Studying the Bible - Online Lessons ''New Life'' Lesson fifteen: About the Holy Spirit. Overview of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

You probably already know or have heard something about the Holy Spirit. It's time to get to know Him better. What does Scripture say about him? Is the Holy Spirit God's power, the embodiment of Divine energy, or is He a Person?

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

No mystery occupies the human mind so much as the question of the nature of God.

“Oh, the abyss of riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and how unsearchable are His ways!” (Romans 11:33).

Let's open the biblical texts that speak about the essence, character and mission of the Holy Spirit.

At the very beginning of Holy Scripture, when it is told how God created the earth, there is a mention of the Holy Spirit.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters” (according to another translation, “soared over the chaos of the waters”) (Genesis 1:1,2).

Having once created an innumerable multitude of worlds, God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to this day, do not stop their creative activity giving life to every earthly and heavenly being: “The Spirit of God created me, and the breath of the Almighty gave me life” (Job 33:4).

The Bible also says that the Holy Spirit is omnipresent and works in this world, saving people from eternal death: “Where can I go from Your Spirit and where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven - You are there; if I go down to hell, and there you are. If I take the wings of the dawn and move to the edge of the sea, and there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me” (Psalms 139:7-10).

After the resurrection and ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit became His personal representative in our world. This is what Jesus said to His disciples before ascending to heaven to His Father: “It is better for you that I go; For if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you” (Gospel of John 16:7).

Our earthly mind is not given to fully understand the essence of the Holy Spirit. In a conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus compared His impact on a person's heart to a gentle breeze:

“The Spirit (in other translation -“ wind ”) breathes where it wants, and you hear its voice, but you don’t know where it comes from and where it goes: it happens with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (Gospel of John 3: 8).

Being one with God the Father and the Son, He knows all the secrets of this world. Our future is open to Him: “The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows what is in a man, except for the human spirit that lives in him? So no one knows God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10,11); “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes ... He will announce to you the future” (Gospel of John 16:13); “For prophecy was never uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Holy Scripture tells us about the love of the Spirit, about His beneficial, transforming and saving influence on a person: poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which was given to us” (Romans 15:30; 5:5); “He saved us, not according to the works of righteousness that we would have done, but according to His mercy, by the bath of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, which He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5,6).

The saving mission of the Holy Spirit is to come to our fallen world and convict people of sin. With love, relentlessly, through the voice of conscience, life circumstances, through other people and the Holy Word, He leads us to repentance and acceptance of God's forgiveness. Jesus Christ speaks of the Holy Spirit: “And when He comes, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, that they do not believe in Me; about righteousness, that I am going to my Father... about judgment, that the prince of this world is condemned” (Gospel of John 16:8-11).

The Holy Spirit also comforts, sustains, and inspires the faithful, guiding their lives and helping them spread the light of the truth of salvation through Jesus:

“But the churches throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria were at rest, being edified and walking in the fear of the Lord; and, with the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they multiplied” (Acts of the Holy Apostles 9:31);

“And they will bring you before rulers and kings for me, to be a witness before them and the Gentiles. When they betray you, do not worry about how or what to say; for in that hour it will be given to you what to say, for you will not speak, but the Spirit of your Father will speak in you” (Matthew 10:18-20).

The Comforter raises our prayers to the throne of the Lord and Himself intercedes for us together with Christ: “Likewise the Spirit strengthens us in our weaknesses; for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings inexpressible. He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).

So, we see that the Spirit of God is spoken of in the Bible as a special Person, constantly dwelling among people and carrying out God's plan on earth.

The Holy Spirit is one of the Persons of the Triune God, the Holy Trinity. He possesses life in Himself and Divine essence. He stands on the same level with God the Father and God the Son, as the Holy Scripture says: “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Gospel of Matthew 28:19) ; “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:13).

PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF CHRIST

Talking for the last time with Jesus before His ascension, listening to His parting words, the disciples suddenly felt lonely and abandoned. However, the Savior did not leave them without hope and support, promising them the Holy Spirit.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth ... I will not leave you orphans” (Gospel of John 14:16-18).

The incarnation of Jesus Christ, His birth, baptism, ministry to people - everything is marked by the blessed presence of the Holy Spirit. Having assumed weak human flesh and not taking advantage of His divine nature, Jesus especially needed His help and strength. It is also promised to us if we take God into our hearts.

According to the divine plan, Jesus was destined to ascend to heaven after the resurrection, “To present yourself now for us before the face of God” (Hebrews 9:24). As the Holy Scripture says, “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). Thus, in heaven we have a Great Mediator - the Son of God, thanks to whom we have the opportunity to ask for forgiveness and blessings from God the Father. On earth, a representative of heaven was sent to us in the person of the Holy Spirit.

“But I tell you the truth: it is better for you that I go; for if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (Gospel of John 16:7).

THE SAVING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit resurrects us to new life. Without His presence, the human heart cannot change. Only the Spirit transforms our sinful nature into the likeness of God:

“...Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Gospel of John 3:5).

The convictions of the Holy Spirit help us see our true condition and feel the great need for the forgiveness and healing offered by Heaven.

“And when He comes, He will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment” (Gospel of John 16:8).

The voice of the invisible Friend speaks to our hearts to help us make the right choice: "And your ears will hear the word saying behind you, 'Here is the way, follow it,' if you turned to the right and if you turned to the left" (Isaiah 30 :21).

“When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak from himself, but he will speak what he hears, and he will announce the future to you. He will glorify me, because he will take of what is mine and declare it to you” (Gospel of John 16:13,14).

The Holy Spirit leads people to Jesus, revealing to them His redemptive mission and fulfilling the wonderful promise of the Savior: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (Gospel of John 12:32).

Hearing a voice on the telephone receiver, a person feels the closeness of his interlocutor, as if he were standing next to him, although they are separated by a great distance. By pressing the switch button, an invisible current is supplied to the light bulb, and the room, which was in darkness, is illuminated by a stream of light.

Both of these examples can be compared to the operation of the Holy Spirit. It is He who invisibly, with His quiet, tender voice, brings us into the presence of Christ, and it is through Him that we receive spiritual light from the Father. All Divine power is directed today to the salvation of a sinful person. The Spirit of God is working tirelessly in and for us to bring about our transformation.

"...not by host or by force, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6).

"...He abides with you and will be in you" (Gospel of John 14:17).

THE FULLNESS OF THE GIFT

On the day of the feast of Pentecost, the disciples of Christ received a special precious gift from God. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, was sent to them.

If at the time of Jesus' baptism the Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, then at Pentecost He assumed the form of a burning flame: "And tongues as if of fire appeared to them" (Acts of the Holy Apostles 2:3). Having received the Holy Spirit, the apostles began to speak in other languages, thanks to which they were able to tell about Christ to more than twenty nations who were on that day in Jerusalem at the feast.

Thus the prophecy of the Lord was fulfilled: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

The Lord speaks of Himself in Holy Scripture: “I will be the dew for Israel; it will blossom like a lily and put down its roots like Lebanon” (Hosea 14:6).

Just as rain or dew saturates the earth, nourishes the seeds and awakens new life in them, the Spirit of God fills the word left by Christ with life-giving power and transmits it to people. This was the meaning of what happened on the day of Pentecost. Only the Holy Spirit, penetrating into the very heart of man, could lead people to realize their sinfulness, to the question: “What shall we do, brothers and sisters?” (Acts of the Holy Apostles 2:37).

In response, they heard from Peter: “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

Jesus gives His great gift to those who have made the decision to turn away from sin. Only through the power of the Spirit of God can people respond to the call to repentance. The Holy Spirit, acting on our conscience and convicting us of sin, leads us to strive to change our lives, fill it with meaning, receive inner renewal and liberation. Our openness to the influence of the Holy Spirit also depends on how well we keep the commandments of the Lord. Where the Spirit of God dwells, there is no room for sin. Conversely, persistence in sin casts out the presence of the Spirit of God.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Comforter to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him and does not know Him; but you know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you” (Gospel of John 14:15-17).

A person who expects the gift of the Holy Spirit and at the same time consciously violates the law of the Creator is on the wrong path. While desiring to enjoy the benefits of God's blessing, he is at the same time unwilling to heed the reproofs of the voice of Heaven. The apostle Paul addresses such people: “Or do you neglect the riches of God’s goodness, meekness and long-suffering, not realizing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).

Let's not forget that there are also evil spirits, that is, Satan and his dark angels. They resist the Holy Spirit, imitating Him and deceiving people. He who expects the gifts of the Lord for himself, but does not see his need for repentance, is in great danger. Instead of these gifts, he may receive a deceptive feeling inspired by the angels of Satan.

"Beloved! believe not every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

“Turn to law and revelation. If they do not speak like this word, then there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).

Thus, Holy Scripture speaks of false teachers and spirits that mislead a person. The Book of God warns that before the Second Coming of Christ, the time will come for the global deception of mankind, when all who reject pure biblical truth will be deceived by a false spirit and led away from the path of salvation.

“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the manifestation of His coming - the one whose coming, according to the working of Satan, will be with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception of those who perish because they received not the love of the truth for their salvation” (2 Thessalonians 2:8-10).

TRUE FREEDOM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

“We are the seed of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone,” the Jews declared to Jesus in response to His call: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (Gospel of John 8:32,33). They did not understand that they were internally in a humiliating bondage to sin and Satan.

Offering them real freedom, the Savior said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. But the slave does not stay in the house forever; the son abides forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be truly free” (Gospel of John 8:34-36).

How can we get this true freedom? Here's what the Bible says: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Being born from the Holy Spirit, a believing person acquires a new, special relationship with God. Feelings of guilt and fear of punishment are replaced by trusting love for the heavenly Father, confidence in His care and protection.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God” (Romans 8:14).

“But since you are sons, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of His Son, crying out: “Abba, Father!” Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ” (Galatians 4:6,7).

"Abba" is translated from Hebrew as "daddy". We address our parents in this way only if we have a very warm, tender relationship with them. It is to this relationship with the Heavenly Father that the Holy Spirit calls us.

“We know that everyone who is born of God does not sin; but he who is born of God keeps himself, and the evil one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18).

This is where true freedom lies. Having a close relationship with the Lord, we are no longer dependent on sin and feel no attraction to it, since what Heaven provides us exceeds all the riches and pleasures of this world.

The perfect harmony, in which the three Personalities of God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, abide, is reflected in the heart of a believing person. Communicating with the Holy Spirit, he becomes one with God in his feelings, thoughts and desires.

FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Bible says: “Every tree is known by its fruit, thereforethat they do not gather figs from the thorn bush, and they do not gather grapes from the bush” (Gospel of Luke 6:44). Just as a well-groomed, cared-for tree pleases its owner with good fruits, so the person who has received the Spirit of God invariably begins to bear the fruits of Divine righteousness. Unlike those feelings that this world gives, together with the Holy Spirit, “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” settle in the heart of a person (Galatians 5:22,23) .

The fruits of the Spirit in our heart testify that we are grafted into the Divine Vine: “I am the Vine, and you are the branches; whoever abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing” (Gospel of John 15:5).

Of the fruits of the Spirit listed by the Apostle Paul, the first and most amazing gift is love. “...Because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). God's love that lives in us is very different from human love. Usually we love those who love us, and our feeling is conditional and selfish. But the love given by the Lord is selfless and unconditional. It elevates and ennobles a person, making him truly happy. Here is how one of the disciples of Christ, the Apostle Paul, describes it: “Love is long-suffering, merciful, love does not envy, love does not exalt itself, does not pride itself, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. ; covers everything, believes everything, hopes everything, endures everything. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

A loving Christian spreads around him joy and peace that overwhelm his heart. It is impossible to complain and lose heart, accepting everything that God does for us. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope… For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13; 14:17).

“Love is long-suffering, does not envy, does not boast, does not pride itself, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,” says the Apostle Paul, who knew from his own experience what it means to bear the fruit of meekness and long-suffering. Let's take a look at his biography:

“I ... was in labors, immeasurably in wounds, more in dungeons and many times near death. From the Jews five times was given me forty blows without one; three times I was beaten with sticks, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent night and day in the depths of the sea; I have been many times on journeys, in dangers on the rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from fellow tribesmen, in dangers from the Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the desert, in dangers on the sea, in dangers between false brothers, in labor and in exhaustion, often in vigil, in hunger and thirst, often in fasting, in the cold and in nakedness ... In Damascus, the regional ruler of King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus to seize me; and I was let down in a basket from a window on the wall and escaped his hands” (2 Corinthians 11:23-27,32).

If the Spirit of God dwells in us, we can endure much and remain happy, following in the footsteps of Christ, who once “made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).

A person born of the Spirit is characterized by kindness and mercy. One who has become involved in Divine love will never be able to calmly pass by injustice and untruth. “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:8,9).

Faith is also the result of the action of the Holy Spirit on the human heart. It maintains our purity in this world of evil, gives hope for the future and helps to accomplish great and even impossible things. The Scriptures say a lot about the meaning and power of faith. Here are some verses: “... above all, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16); "... the righteous shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4). “May He grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be firmly established by His Spirit in the inner man; by faith Christ may dwell in your hearts” (Ephesians 3:16,17); “And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Gospel of Matthew 21:22).

Another very important fruit of the Spirit is temperance. A person who knows God's grace is ready to give up a lot. In the battle with the flesh, with the unrighteous desires and sinful principles of this world, he is armed with the Holy Spirit. By his Power he can resist all temptations and temptations. Here is what the apostle Paul writes about this: “But if Christ is in you, the body is dead to sin, but the spirit is alive to righteousness” (Romans 8:10).

So we see that the Christian who has the Spirit of God in himself brings forth the fruits of righteousness to the Lord. They testify to the whole world about the power of the promises of Christ: “Whoever believes in Me, as it is said in the Scriptures, rivers of living water will flow from his belly. He said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive… I came that they might have life and have it abundantly” (Gospel of John 7:38,39; 10:10).

How can we have abundant life? The Bible says:

“Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on mercy, goodness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, condescending to one another and forgiving each other, if anyone has a complaint against anyone: as Christ forgave you, so you too. Above all things put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Colossians 3:12-14).

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Christians who serve the Lord and others are endowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

“...and it is said: “He ascended on high, took captive captives and gave gifts to men”... And He appointed some as Apostles, others as prophets, others as Evangelists, others as shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints, for the work of ministry, to build up the Body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:8,11-12).

“The gifts are different, but the Spirit is the same; and the ministries are different, but the Lord is one and the same; and the actions are different, but God is one and the same, working everything in everyone. But everyone is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the benefit. To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit; faith to another, by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit; miracles to another, prophecy to another, discernment of spirits to another, tongues to another, interpretation of tongues to another. Yet one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He pleases” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).

As you can see, the Lord does not endow everyone with the same gifts, but distributes them “to each one individually, as he pleases” (1 Corinthians 12:11). What is given to one is complemented by what is given to another.

Among God's gifts, Paul names wisdom, knowledge, faith, the gift of healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits. There is a gift of speaking in other tongues and their interpretation. In the days of the first Christians, it was very relevant, since the language barrier was a serious obstacle to the spread of the gospel message. The apostle was troubled by the view in the Corinthian church that the gift of tongues was the most significant of all gifts. On this basis, there was even a division between the believers. Paul tried to make it clear that true spiritual gifts are in harmony with each other and the manifestation of one of them does not in any way devalue the other. A misunderstanding of the gifts and the lofty purpose for which they are given to the church can lead its members to disorder, confusion, and division. We do not force the Holy Spirit to act according to our will, but He distributes the gifts among us as He sees fit: “Let there be no division in the body, and all members equally care for each other ... Until we all come into unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, into a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:25; Ephesians 4:13).

RAIN EARLY AND LATE

“And you, children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God;for he will give you rain in measure, and will send down on you rain, the early and the latter rain...” (Joel 2:23).

The people of Palestine understood the importance of the early and latter rains. Early rains prepared the soil for sowing. Late rains made it possible to ripen the crop. It happened that the Lord, punishing the Israelites for their apostasy, withheld from them timely rains, and then famine came in the country. The dried-up fields denounced the apostates, pointing out to them their inner barrenness and emptiness. Often such harsh measures helped, and repentant sinners returned to the true Source of life. With what hope they then listened to the prophetic promises of rain, and how strong was their joy when, as a sign of forgiveness and mercy, the long-awaited precious streams finally irrigated the earth! “Thou hast rained abundantly, O God, upon Thy inheritance, and when it failed with toil, Thou didst strengthen it” (Psalm 67:10).

The descent of the Holy Spirit on the first disciples of Jesus on the day of Pentecost was the “early rain”, when the Christian church was still in its infancy and it was necessary to give life-giving power to the sown seeds of the Gospel. Centuries have passed since then. The Bible and the message of salvation it contains are spreading throughout the earth. The time for the latter rain is approaching. He will have to water the ripening ears and prepare them for the last harvest, which " is the end of the age” (Matthew 13:39). Here is how the prophecy describes the moment when the Holy Spirit will again descend on Christians:

“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your elders will dream, and your young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28).

Shortly before the Second Coming of Christ, the Comforter will manifest His regenerating power in every person who repents of his sins and prepares him for eternal life. Anyone who is not ready to accept this great gift of God will lose everything. Already today, we need to have a strong connection with Heaven and abide in the Spirit of truth, so as not to lose the blessings of the latter rain and enter God's granary at the time of the last harvest.

“Sow to yourselves in righteousness and reap mercy; open your novice, for it is time to seek the Lord, so that when he comes, he will rain righteousness on you” (Hosea 10:12);

“Ask the Lord for rain at the right time; The Lord will flash with lightning and give you abundant rain, to every grain in the field” (Zechariah 10:1);

“... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses ... to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Spirit of God does not suppress and does not dissolve the personality of a person in Itself, does not enslave his consciousness. He comes as a loving, caring Friend and speaks to us through reason, feelings and conscience. He illuminates with His wonderful light our inner world. The Holy Spirit respects our freedom and never imposes Himself. Therefore, we ourselves need to daily invite Him into our hearts and ask God the Father for His constant presence and action in us.

"...Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you, for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Which of you father, when his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or, when he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish? Or, if he asks for eggs, will he give him a scorpion? So if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Gospel of Luke 11:9-13).

The Holy Spirit is the greatest of all the gifts of God. If we turn to the Lord with a request for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, He will never refuse us. Earthly parents can sometimes turn away from their children, but the One Who gave His Only Begotten Son to die for us will never disregard the prayer of a languishing soul.

“Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and strengthen me with the domineering Spirit” (Psalm 50:13-14), we repeat after David, and in response we receive a wonderful promise: “... for God gives the Spirit without measure” (Gospel of John 3:34).

So, the Holy Spirit is one of the Persons of the Divine Trinity. He is the representative of Christ on earth and was sent to us with a special mission - to prepare the people of God for eternal life. He convicts, comforts, instructs, encourages, guides the way of a person, gives him wisdom and true freedom from sin. A person who is born of the Spirit receives adoption from God and bears fruits of righteousness that are pleasing to Him. The Holy Spirit governs the church, endowing its members with the abilities and talents they need to spread the gospel and grow spiritually. Shortly before the Second Coming of Christ, He will manifest Himself in a special way.

In conclusion, here is a wonderful biblical promise about the Holy Spirit: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies by his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11 ).

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen" (2 Corinthians 13:13).

“My dear Heavenly Father! thank you for greatest gift which You send to every person, the gift of Your Holy Spirit. God, give me the Comforter to lead me by the hand in this life, revealing Your love and wisdom. May He convict me of sin and bring me to repentance. Teach how to hear and distinguish His voice, like a gentle wind blowing. In the name of I ask Jesus. Amen".

Vladimir Degtyarev,

The period in which we live is often called the time of grace, that is, the period of special work of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, in one of the prophecies that speak of the coming Messiah, a brief but voluminous description of this amazing Person is given. This passage says that He is “the Spirit of the Lord, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and godliness” (Isaiah 11:2). In the Bible we find the doctrine of one God, who is revealed to us in three Persons (1 Pet. 1:2). The Holy Spirit is the third, although this absolutely does not mean, as we will see further, the smallest Personality of the Divine Trinity, since He is completely equal with the Father and the Son.

It is necessary to study the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit, although it is a rather difficult task. In a cursory approach to this topic, it seems that the Bible gives less clear revelation about the Holy Spirit than about the Father and the Son. Perhaps this is partly due to the fact that a large part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to proclaim and glorify the Son (John 14:26; 16:13-14). Nevertheless, we see a mention of this amazing Person already in the second verse of the Bible (Gen. 1:2), where He is presented as the One who directly participated in the creation of our world.

The Russian word spirit is the equivalent of the Hebrew word ruach of the ancient Greek word pneuma. Both of these words in the original have the following meanings: breath or wind.

Brief historical overview of the development of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

The teaching of the Church about the Holy Spirit was not formed all at once. In accordance with the facts that we have, in the first centuries of Christianity, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit developed very slowly. The Church testified of the Holy Spirit at the moment of water baptism and in the Apostles' Creed. Baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit indicates that the early Christian Church believed in the Holy Spirit as a Divine Person, although this doctrine was not explicitly expressed at the time. Early Church Christians understood that the Holy Spirit is the author of Holy Scripture. "Origen, for example, said that the Bible was 'written by the Holy Spirit'" (Erickson, Christian Theology, 719). Along with the development of sound doctrine, various false doctrines concerning the Holy Spirit began to infiltrate the Church. These false doctrines undoubtedly brought problems to the church. but, nevertheless, God used them to induce sound Christians to seriously engage in the formation of a sound doctrine of the third Person of the divine Trinity.

Montanism (2nd century)

Montanism drew attention to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. This movement, also called the Phrygian heresy, arose in Phrygia around 170 AD. Montanus, the founder of this heresy, and his two followers, Prisca and Maximilla, declared themselves prophets, and their followers considered Montanus, Prisca, and Maximilla to be the representatives of the Holy Spirit on earth. Montanus taught that the era of the Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit, who gives new revelations, has come. He preached the imminent end of the world and called for a strict and highly moral life. It was a time when the Christian life of many churches did not conform to evangelical principles. It was precisely the high moral requirements that attracted Tertullian to this movement, as well as a number of other believers of that time. Montanism asserted its special right to "additional revelation" beyond the Bible, which is why the Church rejected it. Thus, the Church confirmed that the necessary revelation from God for us is contained in the Scriptures and that the Holy Spirit does not give any other revelation independent of the Bible.

Arianism (4th century)

Arius, who was a presbyter in Alexandria, argued that the Son, that is, Christ, was begotten by the Father and did not exist before His birth. Then, according to the teachings of Arius, the Son created the world, and first He created the Holy Spirit. Arius was opposed by the deacon Athanasius, whom he later became a bishop. He declared the full divinity of the Holy Spirit, consubstantial or equal with the Father and the Son. To resolve their dispute, by decision of Emperor Constantine, in 325, the Nicene Council was convened. Since the main theme of the council was the divinity of Jesus Christ, therefore, the Nicene Creed about the Son states that He is consubstantial, that is, equal to the Father, and only one thing is said about the Holy Spirit: “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” The divinity of the Holy Spirit is only implied in the Nicene Creed.

Constantinople Cathedral (4th century)

The Nicene Creed did not clearly state the deity of the Holy Spirit, so new controversy erupted after the Council. There arose a heresy of the Macedonians, by the name of Macedonia, the Bishop of Constantinople. The Macedonians did not recognize the divine nature of the Holy Spirit and considered Him to be different from the first two Persons of the Trinity. They taught that the Holy Spirit is a creature, not God. This heresy was opposed by Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, who argued "that the Spirit should be given glory, honor and worship in the same measure as the Father and the Son" (Erickson, Christian Theology, 722). Disputes so flared up that the emperor Theodosius had to convene in Constantinople in 381 a council of 150 eastern bishops. The Council, presided over by Gregory the Theologian, supplemented the Nicene Symbol with the following statement about the Holy Spirit: “[I believe] ... in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, whom together with the Father and the Son we worship and glorify, speaking through the prophets.” We can say that the Council of Constantinople affirmed the Divinity of the Holy Spirit, just as the Council of Nicaea affirmed the Divinity of Jesus Christ.

Augustine (354-430)

In his work De Trinitate (lat.) "On the Trinity", Augustine states that the three Persons of the Godhead have one essence. The Holy Spirit, according to Augustine, proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Chalcedon Cathedral (5th century)

At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, where the Roman, Constantinople, Antiochian, and Jerusalem churches were represented, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed was finally accepted as the complete doctrine of the Trinity. Thus, the divinity of the Holy Spirit was reaffirmed.

Reformation period (1517)

The Reformation did not bring any important changes to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit that had already taken shape and was set forth in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. Only the development and development of existing formulations continued. This was a time when the Holy Spirit was neglected in the practical life of the Roman Catholic Church. His place in the official church was "taken" by popes, priests, masses, the cult of Mary and saints. The Protestant Reformation only rediscovered this great doctrine. But at the end of the 19th century, events took place that brought the doctrine of the Holy Spirit to the forefront of ecclesiastical discussions. The emergence of the Pentecostal and later Charismatic movement, with its unbiblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of Christians, has prompted the modern church to seriously study and expound sound doctrine of this amazing person. Moreover, the second half of the 20th century is marked by serious controversy regarding the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. In recent years, more and more has been said on this subject, and more books have been written than, most likely, on any other religious subject.

Vladimir Degtyarev,

Fundamentals of Christian Theology, Zaporozhye Bible College and (DMin Dissertation) Zaporozhye 2007

All Christians have a high example before them. This is the wonderful life of Christ on our earth, His marvelous character, His image, full of heavenly beauty.
We as Christians would like to be like Christ and do in everything, always and everywhere, the way He did. The apostles saw this same miraculous image - the image of Christ - "in front of them. But both the apostles and we, the present disciples of Christ, see not only this lofty image in front of us, but also our inability to reach it.
In terms of achieving this image, we are all like a shot bird. In a sincere desire to follow in the footsteps of Christ and be like Him, we spread our wings again and again to reach His Heights, but again and again we fall down and find ourselves very far from His image, from His wonderful qualities. And we are convinced with deep sadness that desire is one thing, and achievement is another. So it was with the apostles.
Is it really our share on earth only to desire, but never to achieve? Is it really our share only to raise the wings and, having taken off, fall down again. Not! Desire must end in achievement, flutterings must turn into high flights; the dream must become a reality.
Let us listen to the words of Christ, full of a certain promise: “Peter! Wherever I am going, you cannot follow Me now, and then you will follow Me.”
When will this “after” come? When does "can't" turn into "can"? What is the secret of this amazing change in the lives of Christ's disciples? Now we will hear the answer of Christ to these questions. Acts. Ap. 1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” God has not called us to the path of Christ to walk in our own strength. First of all, the Gospel calls us to salvation - to the foot of the Calvary cross, to the washing of our black heart in the Blood of Christ. And then the gospel calls us to receive power from above, the power of the Holy Spirit. We must never forget these two "Invocations. This is God's order in our Christian life: Galat. 4, 4 - 5 - “But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son (the Only Begotten), Who was born of a woman, obeyed the law, in order to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption; Ev. John. 1:12: “And to those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God”; Galat. 4:6: "But since you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts."
This power - the power of the Holy Spirit - neither Peter nor the other apostles who followed Christ had yet. This is very clearly stated in Ev. John 7:38-39: “Whoever believes in Me, as it is said in the Scriptures, rivers of living water will flow from his belly. This he said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet upon them, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
The Holy Spirit, in the fullness of His power, poured out only on the day of Pentecost, that is, after the ascension of Jesus Christ. But how regenerating In the beginning, the disciples of Christ had the Holy Spirit until Pentecost. On the day of His resurrection, Christ gave them the Holy Spirit. Let's read Ev. John 20:21 Jesus said to them a second time, “Peace be with you! As the Father sent me, so I send you. Having said this, he blew and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit...” Speaking of the action of the Holy Spirit, one must make a distinction between rebirth from the Holy Spirit and being filled with His power, about which Christ spoke to His disciples before the ascension: “You will receive force, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you."
When we turn to Christ, when we believe in Him as our personal Savior, we experience the regenerating action of the Holy Spirit, for without the Holy Spirit there can be no conversion, faith and rebirth, since all this is produced in us by the Holy Spirit. But after regeneration, one must strive to receive the power of the Holy Spirit; otherwise we will not be able to follow in the footsteps of Christ, we will not be able to be transformed into His image.
Most of the children of God have received only rebirth from the Holy Spirit, which explains their inability to be like Christ and do as Christ did. This explains the low spiritual level of most of God's children, their infantile, and even sadder than that, their carnal state. One cannot be satisfied with only rebirth, one must strive for fulfillment by power from above, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The apostles, having received the power of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, after they already had a new heart, encouraged all new converts to receive this great power. An example is the Samaritans, of whom we read in Acts. Ap. 8, 14 - 17. On the day of their appeal to the Lord, the Samaritans received a new heart, that is, a new birth through the Holy Spirit, and the apostles were glad of their conversion, but they sent Peter and John to tell them that now they should receive strength " of the Holy Spirit, and they received it.The same thing happened in Ephesus: Acts Ap 19:1-7 Christ's disciples in Ephesus were converted through the preaching of Christ's mighty messenger, Apollos (Acts Ap 18:24-28) but they also had only rebirth from the Holy Spirit, but they did not learn from the Apostle Paul about His power, and received this power of the Holy Spirit, crying out to the Lord about it together with the Apostle Paul.
Christ speaks of life and life in abundance. Let's read. Ev. John. 10, 10: "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Life and abundant life are not the same thing. Most believers and those who love the Lord have life, but do not yet have abundant life. Regeneration from the Holy Spirit gives life; the power of the Holy Spirit gives abundant life.
The apostle Paul himself experienced both of these spiritual states. On the way to Damascus, he turned to Christ and received a new life, and in Acts. Ap. 9:7 we read the words spoken to him by Ananias, and Paul was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Word of God speaks of being born of the Spirit and the power of the Spirit. About rebirth from the Spirit - not in the sense of a small particle of the Holy Spirit; and about the power of the Spirit - not in the sense of a large amount of the Holy Spirit. Being born again is the first act of the Holy Spirit in our heart; the power of the Spirit is His further mighty work in us. The first work of the Holy Spirit in us is the regeneration of our souls; the next work of the Holy Spirit in us is the life of Christ in us and the ministry of Christ through us.
We, believers, should be, as it were, a "reproduction" of Christ. What is reproduction? Go to any art gallery and you will see how the artists there paint reproductions, that is, they copy, reproduce the paintings of great artists. The life of Christ and the ministry of Christ must become our life and our ministry. The disciple of Christ must become like his Master; the image of the Teacher must be attained.
But the life of Christ and the ministry of Christ is the work of the Holy Spirit in Christ. Take the life of Christ in Nazareth. Christ lived in this city for almost thirty years. About this life in Ev. John 1:4 says, "And the life was the light of men." His life was light, that is, His life was pure and holy, without spot or wrinkle. He was the lamp of Nazareth. Where is the mystery, where is the power of such a life? This power is in the Holy Spirit, with which He was filled from birth.
This pure and holy life of Christ must become our life. We should all be bright lights in our "Nazareth", that is, in our daily life. But this is possible only by the power from above, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We received revival through the Holy Spirit and stopped there. And it is not surprising that we remain spiritual babies, with a life far removed from the life of Christ. But we must strive to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, that is, to His mighty manifestation in us. There is no doubt that Christ was again and again filled with the power of the Spirit, and this power dwelt in Him constantly. That's why He was such a bright lamp in Nazareth.
But now the time has come for Him to begin His great public ministry. And at the time of baptism, the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove and fills Him again with power, not only for a pure life, but also for a great service. And we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will be able to live the life of Christ and serve as He served.
The Holy Spirit led Christ into the wilderness. There He met fiery temptations from the devil. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, He won a complete victory over them. In Ev. Luke 4:14 says that Jesus has returned. out of the wilderness in the power of the Spirit. In the power of the Holy Spirit is the mystery and our victories over all the temptations that await us at every step. Filled with this power from above, we will defeat them all.
After returning from the wilderness, Christ in the synagogue in Nazareth speaks of His anointing with the Holy Spirit for a great and glorious ministry. Let's read Ev. Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, and sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to bring sight to the blind, to set the tormented free, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Christ proclaims here His mission and the power by which He will accomplish it. And so begins His glorious life of service. He teaches and does His great works in the power of the Holy Spirit. We delight in the ministry of Christ, but we often forget that the Holy Spirit performed this ministry. All the teaching of Christ is the teaching of the Holy Spirit, as we read in Acts. Ap. 1:2: "Until the day on which he ascended, giving orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles." His works, His miracles, were the work of the Holy Spirit, as stated in Ev. Matt. 12:28: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then surely the kingdom of God has come upon you."
But now the last day of the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ has come. Here He is with His disciples at the Last Supper. He has a farewell conversation with them. What does this parting conversation of Christ revolve around? Around the Holy Spirit!
Finally, the Calvary hour arrived. Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, offers Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Let's read Heb. 9:14: "How much more so is the blood of Christ, Who by the Holy Spirit offered Himself blameless to God..."
Now we have the risen Christ. And we hear from His mouth the words. About what? About the Holy Spirit! He tells the disciples: "As the Father sent me, so I send you ... receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:21-22).
By sending us to the same life, to the same ministry as His life and His ministry, He also points to the same power by which He lived and acted - the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works in us what He did in Christ: the same fruits, the same holiness, the same love, the same meekness, the same humility, the same words, the same deeds, the same sacrifice.
"Receive the Holy Spirit!" - this is the call of Christ to all reborn of the Holy Spirit. Accept Him as strength! Be filled again and again with this power! And in order for us to have this wonderful power, we must thirst for it and pray unceasingly for it.
Christ says to all who thirst for the power of the Holy Spirit: "Ask and you will receive."
Ephesians 5:18 says, "Be filled with the Spirit!" The word “be filled” means that being filled with the Holy Spirit is not an event in our Christian life that happens only once. The infilling of the Spirit is repeated in our spiritual life over and over again. Let's look at the first disciples of Christ - the apostles. Even before the day of Pentecost, Christ, sending them to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God, gave them power, that is, power - the power of the Holy Spirit: to preach the Kingdom of God, heal the sick, cleanse lepers and do other great deeds (Mat. 10, 7).
The Holy Spirit revealed to them the great truth that their Teacher Christ is the Son of the living God. On the day of His resurrection, Christ gives His disciples of the Holy Spirit who are trembling with fear, tired of hard experiences, who have lost peace and joy. The Holy Spirit was to help them raise their drooping wings. After all, after the departure of their Teacher, they had to fulfill a very big mission on earth, namely: to follow the footsteps of Christ day by day - not physically, but spiritually, fulfilling His will in everything and being transformed into His image. To accomplish this difficult task, they needed a special power - power from above, the power of the Holy Spirit. And on the day of Pentecost they received this special power just as their teacher Christ received it on the day of His baptism, before the beginning of His great public ministry.
But we must know that the filling of the Holy Spirit in the life of the apostles was repeated after Pentecost.
The filling of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is spoken of in Acts. Ap. 2:4: "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." And in Acts. Ap. 4:8 we read: “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said…” This is already a new filling of the Apostle Peter with the Holy Spirit. In Acts. Ap. 4:31 speaks of another, new filling of the apostles with the Holy Spirit: "And through their prayer the place where they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..."
That the infilling of the Holy Spirit takes place continually in the lives of the Lord's children is very clearly stated also in Acts. Ap. 13, 52: "A the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” Lack of familiarity with the teaching of the Word of God about the Holy Spirit leads to very perverse ideas about Him among some believers.
The second great truth about the Holy Spirit that all children of God should know, but that many believers do not know, is that the Holy Spirit is inseparable from the Son of God, Jesus Christ. This means that the filling with the Holy Spirit is at the same time the filling with Christ. We emphasize this truth because by striving for the power of the Holy Spirit, for the filling of the Holy Spirit, we can put Christ in second place.
and thereby make a big mistake, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and the mission of the Holy Spirit is the mission of Jesus Christ. This is how Christ teaches about the Holy Spirit. Let us read His words in Heb. John 16:14: "He will glorify me, because he will take of what is mine and declare it to you." Let us understand once and for all that being filled with the Holy Spirit leads to being filled with Christ. The Holy Spirit does not lead us to Himself, but to Christ. The Holy Spirit draws us not His image, but the image of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit leads us to the closest union with Christ. But there are preachers who preach and teach about the Holy Spirit in such a way that He stands between Christ and the child of God and, as it were, obscures Christ with Himself.
This teaching about the Holy Spirit is wrong teaching. A person who talks a lot about the Holy Spirit and little about Christ is not filled with the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ and leads us to a special love for Christ, to a special closeness to Him, to a special joy in Christ and to His likeness. The Holy Spirit immerses us in Jesus Christ.
What does it take to be filled with the Holy Spirit? By learning about the task of the Holy Spirit - to lead us into the closest connection with Christ, we will understand the conditions necessary for being filled with the Holy Spirit.
These conditions are as follows:
a) A thirst to follow in the footsteps of Christ, that is, an ardent desire to live as Christ lived and to serve as Christ served. It is for such a life and for such a ministry that the power of the Holy Spirit is needed.
Christ's words to Peter are very clear that only in the power of the Holy Spirit is it possible for us to have the life of Christ and the ministry of Christ.
Let us pay attention once again to the words: “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but later on you will follow me” (John 13:36). You will go after being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
b) A desire to glorify Christ is also necessary to receive the power of the Spirit. Christ is very clear that for such glorification of Him, power from above, the power of the Holy Spirit, is needed. Let's look again at Acts. Ap. 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses.”
c) To receive the power of the Holy Spirit, one more condition is necessary: ​​a complete surrender of the heart to Christ. Let us remember how on Mount Carmel the fire of the Lord fell from heaven on the sacrifice laid by the prophet Elijah on the altar. The fire of the Holy Spirit will descend on us only when we lie "as a burnt offering" at the pierced notes of our Redeemer Christ. The power of the Holy Spirit will not descend into a half heart. In a heart that is not fully committed to Christ, the fullness of power will not live.
On the day of the Ascension, we remember the departure of Christ from our earth to the glory of heaven. This means that the time of the Lord's stay in the form of a man on our earth is over. The time has come, about which Christ said to the Samaritan woman: “The time will come, and has already come, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such worshipers the Father seeks for Himself. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).
We must always remember that in the person of Jesus Christ we have not only the Son of God who came in the flesh, but also the Father and the Holy Spirit.
We must not forget that at the time when the divine Trinity in the person of Christ was on earth, it was at the same time in the whole universe, for God is omnipresent, that is, He is everywhere: in heaven and on earth.
We all lived through the day when Christ, knocking at the door of our heart, entered and made an abode in us. But with the advent of Christ, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit came into our hearts, that is, the triune God came into our heart and created a temple for Himself in it. But the triune God came as an invisible Spirit into our hearts, that is, as the Holy Spirit. Thus Christ said in His teaching: “Let us come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). To whom will the divine Trinity come? Christ answers this question very clearly: "Whoever loves Me"... To all who love Him, comes the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit - in the person of the Holy Spirit. Just as before the coming of Christ to our earth the Holy Trinity acted in the person of the Father, so with the coming of Christ to earth it acted in the person of the Son of God, and with the coming of the Holy Spirit the divine Trinity acts in the person of the Holy Spirit. But, having made a home for Himself in our hearts, the divine Trinity remains omnipresent and acts not only in us believers, but in the entire Universe.
What is the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts? She is basically three. The first act of the Holy Spirit in us is our rebirth.
Christ spoke to Nicodemus about this first act of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). The Holy Spirit has made us new creatures in Jesus Christ. He gave us the assurance of the forgiveness of sins and the joy of salvation. He testifies with our spirit that we are God's children (Rom. 8:15-16).
Then, the unceasing work of the Holy Spirit in us is our sanctification. But what does sanctification mean? Sanctification is likeness to Christ. Let's read Romans. 8:29: "For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers." This likening of us, the children of God, to the image of Jesus Christ is a very important and great work of the Holy Spirit in us. We read about this work of the Holy Spirit in 2 Cor. 3:11: “But we all, with open face, beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.” “From glory to glory” means that the likeness to the image of Christ proceeds gradually. "As from the Lord's Spirit" - this means that the likeness to the image of Christ comes through the power of the Holy Spirit, and not through self-improvement. Only the Holy Spirit brings forth the fruits of Gal. 5, 22.
The third work of the Holy Spirit in us is the giving of gifts to us for the service of the Lord and our neighbors, which is spoken of in the 12th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. These gifts are different, but the same Spirit gives them. And these various gifts are given "for good." Who benefits? Body of Christ, that is, His Church. The Apostle Paul takes the example of the physical body and its individual members and speaks of the benefits that each member of the body brings separately.
Similarly, each member of the spiritual body - the Church of Christ - brings its own benefit by the gift that the Holy Spirit gives.
We must know another great truth, namely, that it is possible to have the Holy Spirit, but not see the manifestation of His power in us. It is possible to have the Holy Spirit, but not to know that gift of His, or those of His gifts that are given by Him to every believer for the benefit. How can this be explained? The fact that we can interfere with the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Word of God speaks of the possibility of offending the Holy Spirit living in us, as it is written in Ephesus. 4:30: "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed for the day of redemption."
The Word of God also speaks of the possibility of quenching the Holy Spirit, as we read about in 1 Theess. 5:19: "Quench not the Spirit."
In Romans 7:23, the apostle Paul speaks of the terrible power of our flesh, which opposes all the grace-filled actions of the Holy Spirit in us.

Conversation about the Holy Spirit

1. Christ-loving! Yesterday we glorified the coming of the Holy and Worshipful Spirit, honored not by virtue of human inventions, but by the testimony of the power of the Father. The Word of God is recognized not from what we think or say, but through what we shine with, and our piety is recognized, and the truth is proclaimed. Only the word of God, only the guidance of the Holy Spirit serves both as a lamp of piety, and as a sermon of the knowledge of God, and as a light of Divine teaching. It is necessary to stop a little longer on the story of the Holy and Worshipful Spirit and to say something more clearly about His holy and glorious power. Let us again use the same words as before - we will speak of the Holy Spirit not on the basis of what we ourselves think, but on the basis of what we learn, what Divine words teach us about Him, it is better to say: on the basis of what that He Himself proclaims Himself, speaks through the mouth of the prophets, communicates His ray through the apostles; by His nature He is indivisible, since He proceeds from an indivisible and indivisible nature.

His name is: Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth, Spirit of God, Spirit of the Lord, Spirit of the Father, Spirit of the Son, Spirit of Christ. That is what Scripture calls Him, or rather, Himself, and the Spirit of God, and the Spirit who is from God. And so that, having heard the name of the Spirit of God, we would never think that He is called so by virtue of fellowship with God, Scripture, speaking of the Holy Spirit, adds: "God's, which is from God." It is one thing to say, "God's" and another to say, "Which is from God." God's - heaven and earth, as created by God. But nothing is said to be from God, except what comes from His essence. The spirit is called Holy. This is His most important and first name, containing the most expressive meaning and showing the nature of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, Spirit of God. Who calls Him the Spirit of God? Listen to the Savior: " But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God"(Mat. 12:28). The Spirit of God. So, lest, as I said before, anyone, having heard of the Spirit of God, think that some kind of fellowship is meant here, and not a commonality of nature, Paul says: " we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God"(1 Cor. 2:12). In turn, the Spirit is called the Spirit of the Father, as the Savior says to the holy apostles: " don't care how or what to say; for in that hour it will be given to you what to say, for you will not speak, but the Spirit of your Father will speak in you"(Matt. 10:19, 20). Just as, having said: "The Spirit of God," Scripture added: "Which is from God," so, in turn, the Spirit is also called the Spirit of the Father. And lest you think that He is so called because of His fellowship with the Father, the Savior emphatically says: When the Comforter comes ... the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father"(John 15:26). There it says: "from God," but here - "from the Father." What exactly did the Lord attribute to Himself: " I came from the Father"(John 16: 28, 27), he also attributes the same to the Holy Spirit, saying: "Which proceeds from the Father." So, the Spirit is the Spirit of God and the Spirit from God the Father, and He proceeds from the Father. “? He didn’t say: “is born.” What is not written, one should not argue about it. The Son is born from the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father.

Do you inquire from me in general about the difference, how that one is born and this one proceeds? What? Knowing that the Son was born, you also learned about the image of His origin. And when you hear that the Son is being preached, you at the same time comprehend the image of His birth. Names are what is honored by faith and observed by pious thought. What is the meaning of the word "coming out"? To avoid the name "birth" and not to call the Spirit the Son, Scripture says of the Holy Spirit: " which comes from the Father". It calls Him outgoing, just as water springs up from the earth. As it is said about paradise: " the river comes out of Eden"(Gen. 2:10), so the Spirit proceeds and flows out. The Father is called the source of "living water", as the prophet Jeremiah says about it: " Marvel at this, heavens, and tremble and be terrified, says the Lord. For my people have done two evils: They have left me, a source of living water" [the sky was terrified about this and trembled in many ways ... For my people did two evils: You left me a source of water alive] (Jeremiah 2:12, 13). The divine word, defining the Father as the source of "living water", speaks of the living water proceeding from the source of life: " who comes from the Father"(John 15:26). What comes out? The Holy Spirit. How? Like water from a spring. But why is the Holy Spirit called water? The Savior says: " Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from the womb"(John 7:38). Offering an explanation regarding this water, the evangelist adds: " This He said concerning the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive"(v. 39). So, if the Evangelist John, giving an explanation regarding the Holy Spirit, called Him living water, and the Father says: "They left me, the source of living water," then, therefore, the Father is the source of the Spirit; therefore, the Spirit is from the Father and proceeds. Therefore, I repeat, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God, and the Spirit which is from God, the Spirit of the Father, and the Spirit which is from the Father. Isaiah bears witness from the presence of Christ concerning the Spirit of the Lord: " The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me(Isaiah 41:1). And Paul: " The Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom"(2 Cor. 3: 17). If where the Spirit is present, and if therefore there is freedom, then is He really a slave? If those on whom He descends, the Holy Spirit frees from the yoke of slavery and gives them freedom, then how He is a servant at once? How does He bestow what He does not have? How, being Himself a slave, does He set others free? Have you not heard what Paul says: " because the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free"(Rom. 8: 2)? Does the Spirit free the slaves, which does not have the element of freedom in His nature? For if He is created and enslaved, He does not make anyone free.

2. Let not the heretics deceive you with their tricks. I do not say that the Spirit is a slave, nor do I say that He is a creature. This is a new heresy. There is a danger that heretics will introduce three principles: the uncreated, the created, and the other, which I don’t know what to call. Spirit of God, Spirit that is from God, Spirit of the Father, Spirit that proceeds from the Father, Spirit of the Lord, Spirit of the Son. The apostle says: And since you are sons, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of His Son, crying out: Abba, Father!"(Galatians 4:6). You see, He called the Spirit of the Son. In another place, in turn, Paul calls Him the Spirit of Christ: " But you do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, if only the Spirit of God lives in you."(Rom. 8:9). Please pay attention to this holy plexus. Paul brings to the scene, as it were, a kind of holy and living rope from a three-fold power, uniting the indivisible nature and pointing to a single power by various names. " You do not live according to the flesh, says the apostle, but in spirit". Here is the Spirit." If only the Spirit of God lives in you". Here is the Spirit of God." If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ..."(Rom. 8:9). And, of course, it would be appropriate to say:" But if anyone does not have the Spirit of God"; but said: " Spirit of Christ". The apostle said: " Spirit of God", and added: " Spirit of Christ". "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."(Rom. 8: 9). The apostle said this in order to show that if it is the Spirit, then Christ is also, that it is one and the same thing: Christ is present and the Spirit is present, and that one and the same thing is to say - "The Spirit God's" and "the Spirit of Christ." Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, just as one might call Him also the Spirit of the Son, because the Savior says: " I am the truth"(John 14:6). The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, which is the Spirit of the Son, as Paul says: " sent into your hearts the Spirit of his Son(Galatians 4:6). Therefore, He is both the Spirit of the Son and the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus Christ. Listen to Paul himself: " If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you"(Rom. 8: 11). These are the names of the holy and immaculate Power, the holy and worshiped Spirit. There are other names that correspond not to His nature, but to His activity. Speech is deep, and for its understanding, attentive ears are needed, unfamiliar with hesitation and full of faith. The Spirit is called the Spirit of life, because the Savior says: I am the truth and the life"(John 14:6). The Spirit is called the Spirit of life, just as Paul says: " law of the spirit of life"(Rom. 8: 2). These names point to the same dignity, to the same nature. There are other names that are not attributed to the Holy Spirit, but to His power and action, when, for example, it is about His gifts. I speak, first clarifying my thought, and then giving evidence. When, through the prayers of the saints, the Holy Spirit grants - either to me or to another Christian - sanctification and I will receive the gift, so that I will have a holy body and a holy soul, then the gift given to me is called the spirit of holiness, that is, a gift of grace. If the Holy Spirit gives someone who has neither wisdom nor knowledge a gift: give him faith alone, such as, for example, many who have gifts of grace, by virtue of which they believe in them without knowing the Scriptures, such a gift is called the spirit of faith. If anyone receives from the Holy Spirit the power and the gift to believe in the promised blessings that are to be given to us in the age to come, he will receive the spirit of the promise. If anyone receives the gift of wisdom, that gift is called the spirit of wisdom. ayah, the grace-filled gifts of the Spirit are called spirit. To our explanations of your views, made figuratively and in part, be especially attentive. So, let's move on to the evidence. When someone has the gift of love, they say that he has the spirit of love. When someone receives the gift of martyrdom, they say that he has a spirit of power, that is, a gift of grace. Since what is given is the Holy Spirit, the gift is called by the same name as the One who gives it. That's why Paul says: you did not receive the spirit of bondage to live in fear again, but you received the spirit of adoption"(Rom. 8:15). And again:" for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound mind"(2 Tim. 1: 7). Here he calls the gift of grace by the spirit, as in the case when he says:" you…are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise"(Eph. 1:13). Where is it written about the Spirit of Promise? Paul says: " having the same spirit of faith"(2 Cor. 4: 13) and promises, that is, the gift of grace of the Spirit. So, here is the spirit of faith, the spirit of promise. If anyone is meek and lowly in heart, he has received the gift of meekness. The latter is God's gift of grace. Paul speaks of this :" if a person falls into any sin, you spiritual ones, correct him in the spirit of meekness"(Galat. 6:1), that is, the gracious gift of meekness." watching, Scripture says, each one behind himself, so as not to be tempted"(Galatians 6:1). Here is the spirit of meekness. To another is given sanctification of soul and body, and it is called the spirit of holiness, just as the apostle says: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an Apostle, chosen to the gospel of God, which God previously promised through His prophets, in the holy scriptures"] (Rom. 1:1, 2, 4). He said it backwards; the meaning of his words is this: "Paul, who was made an apostle according to the Holy Spirit." Many, following the first saying, thought that Paul was speaking of the Son of God, predestinated "according to the Holy Spirit." However, in reality it is not so. On the contrary, this passage says that Paul was ordained an apostle "according to the Holy Spirit." When was it delivered? After the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Since the other apostles were chosen before the sufferings of Christ, and he - after Christ's resurrection, that is why it is said: "according to the Holy Spirit." I will also say something else. When during the holy sacraments we all begin to say: "Our Father who art in heaven!" [Our Father, who is in heaven] (Matt. 6:9), then we have received a gift: the spirit of procreation, that is, the gift of grace of the Holy Spirit. The spirit is called the spirit of jealousy, as Paul says: So are you, being zealous for spiritual gifts,"(1 Cor. 14:12), that is, you have a zeal for spiritual gifts. " Be zealous for great gifts—that is, for gifts of grace—and I will show you an even more excellent way."(1 Cor. 12:31)." If I speak in human and angelic languages, but do not have love ... then I am nothing"(1 Cor. 13: 1, 2); that is, love is more important than any gift of grace.

3. But let us return to the question to be discussed. Isaiah speaks again: for the same Spirit speaks through the mouths of all. Therefore, as Paul said about the spirit of life, the spirit of love, the spirit of power, the spirit of chastity, the spirit of promise, the spirit of faith, the spirit of meekness, the spirit of son-laying, so blessed Isaiah: " And a branch will come from the root of Jesse" [a rod will come out of the root of Jesse](Is. 11: 1), that is, the royal - the Savior. The rod calls the royal sign, as David also says: " The scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom"(Psalm 44:7)." And a branch will come from the root of Jesse, and a branch will grow from its root; and the Spirit of the Lord rests on him"(Isaiah 11:1, 2).

Here is the name of the nature of the Spirit Itself. Then follow His gracious gifts: spirit of wisdom and understanding, spirit of counsel and strength, spirit of knowledge, spirit of piety, spirit of the fear of God"(vv. 2, 3). For example, someone explains the Scriptures: either you, the faithful, or another Christian. Even if the meaning is obscure and unclear, however, the Holy Spirit will give someone the power to clarify even the innermost thoughts. Such man has received the spirit of revelation, that is, the gift of grace, which reveals the incomprehensible. Therefore, the apostle, desiring the disciples of piety to lower the meaning of the Scriptures, says: " I pray to God that ... give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to the knowledge of Him, and enlighten the eyes of your heart"(Eph. 1: 17, 18). Have you seen the spirit of revelation? But let us return to the supposed speech. In the case where it is necessary to comprehend the depths, it is called the spirit of revelation. Where there must be love, it is called the spirit of love. Where it is necessary that the teacher spoke clearly, is called the spirit of wisdom. Where it is necessary for the hearer to understand clearly what is being said to him, it is called the spirit of understanding. The spirit of wisdom is given to those who teach, the spirit of understanding to the hearers. I preach, but you are able to understand me, but you cannot teach others. This God, wanting to show that just as He sends the word of wisdom to the student, so to the student the gift of understanding, so that he understands God, says: “The mouth of the preacher has the gift of wisdom, the learning heart has the gift of understanding. Wisdom is the weapon of the mouth; understanding is the weapon of the heart." Therefore David says: " my mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditations of my heart shall be knowledge" [my mouth shall speak wisdom, and the teaching of my heart shall understand] (Psalm 48:4). Another has not received the grace of teaching, but has received the grace to express the required opinion and give good and praiseworthy advice. Sometimes a student is not able to offer the right opinion, because he did not receive this gift: another does not receive everything, so that he does not think that the gift of grace is the work of nature. One receives the grace of teaching; and lest he become arrogant, he proves incapable of giving advice in worldly affairs. The other, unable to teach, gives excellent advice. It turns out that he who lends to others in other cases lends himself to them. Where is it from? I will now present proof that a person who has received the grace of teaching needs the advice of another person. Moses received the gift of wisdom, legislation, teaching; took upon himself the duty of holding judgment throughout the day. His father-in-law Jethro comes, offering him advice, and says: "You alone are not able to carry out legal proceedings against such a great people; and if you nevertheless begin to do so, you will completely destroy yourself." But what to do? “Order,” he says, “leaders of ten and fifties, and also leaders of hundreds and thousands, so that things exceeding the strength of a leader of ten will go to the leader of fifty, and the superior abilities of the latter go to the leader of a hundred, and those exceeding the strength of a hundred leader to the commander of a thousand, exceeding the strength of this one to you.” and those who exceed yours, to God.If," he says, "any important thing [heavy verb] then let them report it to you. If something turns out to be beyond your strength, then turn to God with it (Ex. 18: 18-23). The legislator, being wise, accepted the opinion of a private individual; and this opinion became the law and image of the future. Since Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, was a priest of idols, and then he condemned his error and learned the truth, he became the image of the church from the Gentiles: the understanding of the Gentiles surpassed the wisdom of the law, not because it was pagan, but because it was corrected in better side. Indeed, when was Jethro's opinion adopted? Not while he was an idol priest, but after he knew God. When he saw the works of God and when Moses told him about the miracles in Egypt, he says: " now I know (behold, repentance!) that your Lord is greater than all gods"(Ex. 18: 11). So, since he knew the truth, Jethro received the gift of grace to give good advice.

4. But let us return to the question to be discussed. He who teaches has received the spirit of wisdom, and he who learns has received the spirit of understanding to understand what is being taught. Therefore, Isaiah ascribes wisdom to the one who speaks, and understanding to the hearer, and says: "wise artist and skillful in word" [wise architecton and reasonable listener](3:3). The spirit of advice is given to the adviser, the spirit of power to the one who receives the advice. The adviser receives the gift of grace to say something useful, while the one who receives the advice receives the grace to do what is useful. Spirit of the fear of God. Each of these grace-filled gifts was given for a specific need. When under Moses a tabernacle was being built in the wilderness, then, without a doubt, at that time there was a need not for a gift of a teacher, but for a gift from an architect, how to prepare fine linen, hyacinth, purple, purple. God communicated a grace-giving gift - architectural, the gift of sewing and weaving, melting gold, dressing stones and connecting them. Why did God communicate these arts? Because He built a tabernacle on the earth. The tabernacle was a type of earth and heaven. God created heaven and earth in six days. The tabernacle was arranged in the form of heaven and earth, and there was a need for the gift of the Holy Spirit, which would bring things into order. It was a time not of teaching, but of practicing the art of weaving and other arts. God says: " It is Bezalel, the son of Uriev, the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah that I appoint; and I filled him with the Spirit of God, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and all kinds of art"(Ex. 31:2, 3). By the Spirit of wisdom, to advise those who made the tabernacle whether they should build it this way or that way. The spirit of understanding [thinking] - to bring everything into order. By the spirit of knowledge, that he may understand the power of what God says. On another occasion, God promises to communicate the grace of philanthropy and says: I will pour out on the house of David the spirit of grace and bounty"(Zachar. 12:10), that is, the gift of philanthropy. In turn, the blessed gift of humility is communicated. How is this clear? Three youths in the cave, being righteous, trampled down the flame, but, as humble-wise, they called themselves sinners. They trampled down the flames, through the excess of their righteousness, and turned the furnace into dew. However, they did not become proud and did not say: “Oh, how great is our righteousness! We have overcome nature, we have surpassed the law!” But they act like the righteous and talk like sinners. Really, think about it. They trampled on the flame, rejoiced like saints, and spoke of themselves as sinners: " We have sinned, and acted lawlessly, departed from You, and have sinned in everything. They did not hear Your commandments, neither did they keep them, nor did they do as You commanded us, that it might be good for us."(Dan. 3: 29-31). Therefore, since, being righteous, they humbled themselves, they received the spirit of humility, the gift of humility of wisdom. As such, seeing the manifestation of grace, they say: " At the present time we have no prince, no prophet, no leader, no burnt offering, no sacrifice, no offering, no incense, no place for us to sacrifice to Thee and obtain Thy mercy."(vv. 38, 39). Therefore, because we have no city, no temple, no altar, no incense, instead of all this, humility of mind will suffice for us. " Therefore they say: "But with a contrite heart and a humble spirit, let us be received." Another, when is filled with grace, having received the gift in its fullness, he says: "he received the spirit of fulfillment." How is this clear? Jeremiah says: " the way of the daughter of my people is not in the direction of the holy, and not in the direction of a pure spirit of fulfillment"(Jeremiah 4:11, 12). They, he says, have no spirit to fill them. The apostles are said to have "a spirit of fulfillment": " Then, Scripture says, Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit"(Acts 13: 9), i.e., when he denounced Elim the sorcerer (v. 8). Do you see the gifts of grace? I will repeat the names of the inexpressible nature: the Spirit of God, the Spirit who is from God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of the Father the Spirit of the Son, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Him Who raised Christ, the Spirit of life, the Spirit of truth, and then the gifts of grace: the spirit of power, the spirit of love, the spirit of chastity, the spirit of promise, the spirit of faith, the spirit of revelation, the spirit of sonship. receives the gift of grace to execute judgment, he receives the spirit of judgment, as Isaiah says: " and purify the blood of Jerusalem from among her with a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire" [and the Lord will purify them with a spirit of judgment and a spirit of heat](4:4). He calls the punishing and purifying force the spirit of judgment and the spirit of fire. David asks for a "right spirit" that would lead to the right path. And then he asks for a grace-filled gift that controls the passions and makes sure that the soul is not in slavery to the passions. Since David's heart was corrupted and from a state of chastity entered the path of sin, passions and pleasure, and since he unjustly pronounced a decision that ruined her husband, became a slave to lust and fell into adultery, then he asks God, saying: " Renew the right spirit within me... Do not cast me away, he says, from Your presence... Return to me the joy of Your salvation and confirm me with a domineering Spirit" [Renew the spirit of rights in my womb... Do not cast me away from Your presence... Reward me the joy of Your salvation and confirm me with your dominating spirit](Psalm 50:12-14), that is, a gift of grace that governs passions and rules over pleasures.

5. This is what we have said about the divine dignity of the Holy Spirit and about the diversity of His actions. Heretics, however, not knowing that Scripture, speaking of the "spirit of holiness" or "promise", means the gifts of the Spirit, relate this to His nature and say that God gave and the Holy Spirit bestowed. "Have you seen," they say, "that this is a gift from God?" They read what concerns gifts, and referred it to nature, while it was necessary to understand which names clarify nature and which designate grace. They distorted the truth, confused everything, got confused, went astray from the path of truth, " their foolish hearts were darkened"(Rom. 1:21);" calling themselves wise, went mad(v. 22). Therefore they reason: “Since,” they say, “you raise questions about the Spirit and teach on the basis of the Scriptures, desiring to have the Scriptures as your witnesses, we, prompted by the Scriptures themselves, say what the Savior said about the Holy Spirit. What does He say? " But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth... he will guide you into all truth: for he will not speak from himself, but he will speak what he hears, and he will announce the future to you... because he will take of what is mine and will declare it to you." [When the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, comes, who proceeds from the Father, he will guide you into all truth; do not speak from Himself, but if he hears, he will tell you, as if from Mine he will receive and tell you](John 15:26; 16:13, 14). Have you seen, they say, that the Spirit will not speak from Himself "(16: 13), but from I. Christ will accept (v. 14)? The dignity of the Spirit cannot be proved. Did not the Scripture find out, they say, that He is subject to the power of the Son, that the Son lends Him, and that then is the Spirit already delivering His gifts to others?" Pay special attention to the matter. When something of what has been said seems to you to arouse perplexity, do not immediately attack the given expression, but wait until the end of the thought. Have you not seen that when buildings are built, everything is randomly mixed up: lime, stones, logs, everything appears to your eyes in a mixed form, and in the eyes of the master everything seems to be in line with his goals? He knows at what time these mixed substances will come in handy in that place, and at what time in another; and what is now scattered here and there is brought into the proper harmonic order, and the result is the beauty of the building. Therefore, when you notice that the speaker is moving from one to the other and from the other to the third, then consider that he is preparing materials for himself. When I collect the latter, then I will show the harmonic order in my reasoning. There is one nature of the Son and the Spirit, one power, one truth, one life, one wisdom. Since the Savior deigned to take our nature, He is filled with the Holy Spirit, not because He was lower than the Holy Spirit, but because the flesh had to receive the descent of the Spirit in human form; and not because God the Word could not sanctify the nature which He assumed. If you agreed with this position, then the Son would also be superfluous, since the Father would be sufficient for the sanctification of creation. Does the Father accept the Son because He, the Father, is powerless? Does the Son receive the Spirit for the same reason? But because there is only one nature, which "acts in everything"; one thing the Father does, and is perceived in all nature; the other is the Son, and passes into all nature; and the third is the Spirit, and is perceived in all nature. So, when nature is considered in itself, it is equal and the same, full of imperious dignity, amazing, neither poor nor imperfect, does not increase, does not decrease, does not become worse, does not receive addition. When God the Word took on our flesh, He built it in the human image, receiving the Holy Spirit as one of the prophets or as one of the apostles. I said before that the Spirit descends, not because the divinity of the Son was not sufficient, but in order that in this way a perfect knowledge of the Trinity might be revealed. So, the flesh of the Lord was worthy of the Holy Spirit, and then the Savior wanted to give the property of the Holy Spirit the body that He - the Lord - took, to give in order that everything that Christ would do in the flesh would be attributed to the Holy Spirit who lived in Him, as in holy human temple. Christ for us is a man, but in Himself is God. He Himself is God, and man is by virtue of His philanthropy. He was casting out demons and wanted to attribute their casting out to the Holy Spirit. And says: " But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God"(Mat. 12:28). He didn't say, "I cast it out by the Word of God," but attributes it to the Holy Spirit, like a holy man worthy of the Holy Ghost. It is known that when He entered the temple, He took the book of the prophet Isaiah and read. I read what was written about Himself. " And He, opening the book, Scripture conveys, says: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me"(Luke 4: 17, 18). Is this befitting God the Word? Does God say: " The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me"? Isn't it implicit that a person's face says: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for the Lord hath anointed me" ( Is. 61:1)? " With the Spirit, he says, I am anointed with the Holy". Therefore Peter says: " God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power."(Acts 10:38).

6. Here, please, stop our attention. All of the above serves to clarify the words: "takes from Mine" [takes from Mine](John 16:14). We do not jump from one subject to another, but, as I said earlier, we prepare materials for you to bring them into a single harmonious whole. I. Christ was awarded the Holy Spirit, baptized in the Jordan; and John says: I saw the heavens open and the Spirit of God come down like a dove and abide on Him"(John 1:32, Mark 1:10). Have you seen how the Lord in human form receives the Holy Spirit? No one is so wicked as to think that the Godhead received the Spirit. John the Baptist says: " There stands among you Someone whom you do not know… I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me: On whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, He… is the Son of God.”(John 1:26, 31-34). The Holy Spirit descended to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me"(61:1). The flesh was baptized, he who was baptized immediately came out of the water and " was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness"(Mat. 4:1). He was raised up, and the flesh had the Holy Spirit, as it were, an educator. For what was He raised up? To give us an image: "As My flesh is not guided by lusts, but by the Spirit, so should you also do" Therefore Paul also says: But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not in the flesh."; and: " All who are led by the Spirit of God are not under the law."(Galatians 5:18; Romans 8:14). The flesh of Christ is guided by the Spirit; We will also be guided by them. Indeed, for this reason, the Lord takes everything upon Himself in order to leave us an image. " He was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness for temptation"(Matt. 4: 1) - and conquered the devil; it was not the Deity who conquered, because it would be dishonorable for the Deity to say about Himself that It conquered. God never conquers, nor conquers, but always rules. If He conquered, then in general it would be possible that he himself was overcome.But he who always rules is the Almighty, and the subjects do not revolt against him, just as he does not overcome his subjects with known efforts. Therefore, if the Lord's flesh, the Lord's image, a new man, heavenly, a new branch that blossomed after a miraculous birth, if He received the Holy Spirit, then you have evidence that the Spirit came from heaven, that by the Spirit He was led into the wilderness to overcome the devil. subsequently conquered, for this a new Man comes, accompanied by the power of the Spirit. Therefore, as I said, He " was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted"(Matt. 4:1). And when He returned as a conqueror, Scripture says of Him: " And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit from the wilderness"(Luke 4:14). Therefore, the flesh had the Holy Spirit, not a part of spiritual gifts, as we have, when wisdom is given to one, knowledge to another, but it had all the gifts. my tongue did not lessen the greatness of what is proclaimed. Therefore, the body of the Lord and the holy flesh, having received the power of the Holy Spirit, did not receive, as it is said about any of the apostles and prophets, one gift of grace or another. Man cannot contain everything. Therefore Paul says: " Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all miracle workers? Does everyone have gifts of healing?"(1 Cor. 12: 29, 30)? In relation to us, gifts are divided; in the flesh of Christ, all manifestations of grace, all gifts were present, according to the essence of the flesh. And pay attention. First, the Lord filled His temple with all kinds of grace-filled forces. He had the gift of healing diseases, casting out demons, raising the dead, predicting the future, doing works of truth, He could do everything and possessed the fullness of spiritual gifts, since the Lord's flesh of the body was filled with all kinds of grace gifts. It was necessary that then we in general received several bodies from the Lord, as if from a storehouse, given from him both to the apostles and to the prophets. John testified that in Him, i.e., the Lord, was all the fullness of the Godhead. And Paul: " for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"(Colossians 2:9). He did not simply say: "the Godhead lived in him," but: " all the fullness of the Godhead", that is, every gift of the Divine.

And lest anyone should think that "all the fullness of the Godhead" dwelt in God the Word, the apostle says, "All the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells in Him." In His flesh is all the fullness of wisdom, reason, strength, miracles, all kinds of activity. Then from His fullness we all borrow to ourselves. John the Baptist testifies: And I didn't know Him; but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, On whom will you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him?(he did not say: "giving him one gift", but all "abide"), He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire."(John 1:33). Then, wanting to show that the Savior did not receive grace as a man, John says: God gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given everything into His hand"(John 3:34, 35). So where do we get from?" And from His fullness we all received"(John 1:16). He received fullness, and we from it. How? From the time the Spirit filled the flesh of the Lord with Himself, the Lord drew from it, as from a source, and loaned people gifts. Please pay attention. He says: " But when He, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth... because He will take from Mine"(John 14:7, 13, 14).

7. Pay attention to the exact meaning of the words. The Lord did not say: "From Me", but: " from my". "From Mine" - from whom? "From Mine He will give you"; however, "He Himself will receive." He does not receive as a loan, but, since He filled the source, as it were, the foundation of grace-filled gifts, He draws from the receptacle and offers to all from His own property. And how do we know that "to receive" means "to receive from His own property"? Listen, God filled Moses with the Spirit, and Moses says, "I alone cannot bear the burden of all this people. Choose for yourself another." God says to him: " gather for me seventy elders, and I will take from the Spirit that is upon you, and put them on them."(Numbers 11:14, 16, 17). He didn't say, "I will take your spirit," but, "of the Spirit that is upon you," "I will take of Mine." God says: " In those days I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and they will prophesy"(Joel. 2: 28). If God, who took from Moses, lent to them, then the Spirit, who took from the Son, also lent to Him. Moses was the image of Christ, because like the spirit that was in Moses, 70 elders were filled, exactly thus from Christ the universe received the Holy Spirit." From my will": "From what was given to Me alone - the Lord's man, the one who gave Himself takes, Who descended on Me and remained in Me, Who anointed Me, sanctified Me, led me into the wilderness and returned Me a conqueror." Receives from Mine and proclaims to you". And to show that He did not remember the Holy Spirit, but His gifts, immediately after the words "accept from Mine" he adds: " All that the Father has is Mine(John 16:15). I got that from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I said: He will accept from Mine. "Since God sanctified the flesh with the Holy Spirit and the Father sent down into the flesh of Christ the gift of the Spirit, and grace, having come, put all the gifts into Christ, then He says: " receive from My signs and declare to you". What does the expression mean: " he will not speak from himself, but he will speak what he hears"(John 16:13), "will announce to you"(v. 13, 14)? Previously it was said that one thing is the Holy Spirit, and another is a gift of grace; another is the king, and another is the gift of the king. When someone wages war against many and various barbarian peoples, he is perplexed where to start a war. If he engages in war with these, then another wing raises its head against him. If he divides his army into two parts, then through this his forces fall apart. We are among the Arians, who subvert the glory of Christ, and the Macedonians, who insult the Divine glory of the Spirit If I tell the Macedonians about the Son what is confessed by all, then the Arian immediately enters into an argument: "Have you really convinced me about the Son by talking to me about the Spirit?"

8. And since today it is supposed to speak about the Holy Spirit (after all, according to the grace given from Christ, we often prevailed on the question of the Son; you are witnesses of what has been said, knowing that the case was conducted by us not by skillful sophistical devices, but by means of proofs from the Scriptures), although I now wished to offer a word about the Son, who always has in Himself a resplendent power, - however, in order to present evidence against heretics who limp on the question of the Spirit, I leave that word aside for the time being. It is impossible for someone who is lame in his conceptions of the Spirit to go straight on the question of the Son. Until now, you will not convince the Macedonian to subscribe to the doctrine of "consubstantial" in accordance with the Council of Nicaea, although they always say: "We live in harmony with that faith, since nothing was clearly said about the Spirit. There was not a stubborn dispute about this subject , no hostile bickering." However, in order to fully convince them, I say: It is written: He will not speak of himself"(John 16:13). Say to the Macedonian: "This is also written about the Son"; better to say: He Himself speaks of Himself: I ... do not speak of Myself"(John 14:10). Please note that I am citing evidence from a source that you also acknowledge. It is necessary to argue with an Arian about the saying, "I do not speak of myself," likewise on the question of the Spirit. With you, who have declared yourself to be a pious thinker, there is no need to enter into competition. Speaking of Christ, you say that He is equal to God, like the Father in everything. I entered the question with you in mind as a glory-professing Son. You speak of the Spirit: "He will not speak of himself." The Savior says of Himself: "I am not speaking of Myself, but I am speaking what I have heard from My Father." So the Son does not speak from Himself. Meanwhile, honor is equal to both the Father and the Son. I tell you this because the Arian doubts both. What those who suffer shipwreck experience, so do unbelievers, as Paul says, "Those who in matters of faith were shipwrecked" (cf. 1 Tim. 1:19). The Arians, shipwrecked, lost both the glory of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. The Macedonians, of course, are zealously trying to rise from the depths upwards, but they have lost half of their load, as Paul says: " If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."(Rom. 8:9). Pay attention, therefore, lest we seem to attack after the example of the wrestlers and, with arrogance, offer the substantiation of the propositions. "I'm not speaking of Myself." Explain to me what is meant by the expression "I speak not of myself" used by the Savior? For whatever decision the Macedonian comes up with regarding the Son, he will find it suitable also with respect to the Holy Spirit. Two balanced expressions: neither the Spirit from Himself nor the Son from Himself say anything. But the Son has need of the Father; the Spirit also needs the Father. Until now, equal honor belongs to both. So pay attention. I know that I have plunged into the depths, as the power of Christ, all-testing, knows. I tremble with fear rather than say, I am afraid of precisely this, that the ship will rush into the boundless abyss and there will be no Spirit. Give me a prepared ship, a helmsman, sailors, ropes, anchors, all ready, and if there is no breath of wind anywhere, then, in the absence of the latter's action, are all those preparations useless? This is how it usually happens. Even if the speech is extensive, and the thought is deep, even if there is eloquence and intelligence, but if there is no Holy Spirit delivering His help, then everything is useless.

9. So, why did the Lord say about Himself, as well as about the Spirit: “I do not speak on My own.” As wrestlers, attacking the disputant, let us try to fully convince both ourselves and those (i.e. heretics), if they only want listen to us. Of course, we will not forcefully lead them to the path of truth, but we will begin to speak to them; won't they really be convinced? Do not be surprised if I - a man - say this when God says to Ezekiel: " Go to the children of Israel ... and you will tell them ... Will they listen or will they not, will they believe or not"(Ezek. 2: 3-5, 7). We say this, "Whether they will listen or not, believe or not, agree with us or disagree." If they (the heretics) do not agree with us who say such things, we are not guilty of it. Thus Paul also taught, and after expounding his doctrine he says: I testify before all that I am pure from the blood of all of you. for I did not fail to proclaim to you... the way of God"(Acts 20: 26, 27). And now I say: why did the Savior say: "I will not speak from myself"; and about the Spirit: "I will not speak from myself"? I ask your love, let us stop our attention here. Christ is one, many false Christs have appeared, as the Savior said about this: " Hiding behind My name, many false Christs and false prophets will come"(Mat. 24:24). Although Christ is one, and His coming was announced by the prophets, even before His appearance, some deceivers arose, saying: "We are the Christs." Thevda says: "It's me." Judas of Galilee: "It's me." And they misled many. The Savior comes and says: All, no matter how many of them came before me ... there were thieves and robbers"(John 10:8). Since these, earlier than others, who were deceivers who took the name of Christ, tried to convince the people that they are Christs, appearing not at the same time, but each separately: one now, and the other at another time, then Christ says: " No matter how many of them came before Me…there were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. Sheep hear my voice and know my voice and follow me"(vv. 3, 4, 8). So those false Christs came and learned neither from the law nor from the prophets, but spoke from themselves and were guided by their own opinion. The Savior, having come, did not depart from the prophets, but spoke, for example, like this: Well did Isaiah prophesy about you"(Matt. 15:7); and another time: " is it not written in your law?"(John 8:17). And when the devil came to Him, the Lord said to him: " Worship the Lord thy God, and serve Him alone."(Mat. 4:10). So Christ, having come in the flesh, did not speak from Himself, but from the prophets. Since those who came before Christ did not speak in the name of Christ, neither from the law, nor through the mouth of the prophets, but, guided by their personal opinion, expressed erroneous views and thoughts, the Savior says: I do not speak from myself, like those"(John 14: 10). To speak from Yourself means to speak apart from the law. Therefore, it is also necessary for us to speak. When you see that heretics put forward Aristotelian or Platonic propositions for their part, say: "We do not speak from ourselves; we say what we have heard from Christ." And how is it evident that the one who speaks from himself is a false prophet, or that speaking on the basis of his personal opinion characterizes a false prophet? The prophet Ezekiel speaks of the prophets who led His people astray: " Hear the word of the Lord! I didn't send them. They spoke for themselves and preach from their hearts"(Ezek. 13: 1 and gave.). Since the false prophets preached from themselves, the Savior, clearing Himself of such suspicion, says:" I do not speak from Myself. we will install just that. During the holiday " setting tabernacles" [offering the canopy](John 7:2) Crowds of people were looking for Jesus, saying, "Where is He?" And concerning Him there was a disagreement: some said that He was good; but others said, No, but he deceives the people."(Art. 12). Do you see how a deceiver was also suspected in Him? Another time, after the holy death of the Savior, the bishops say to Pilate: Mister! We remembered that the deceiver, while still alive, said: after three days I will rise"(Matt. 27: 63). This is said by me to prove that the Lord was considered by others to be a deceiver. Since He was considered as such, He says:" I do not speak from myself, but from the law, from the prophets, what I heard from the Father(John 14:10; 15:15). Not according to my divinity have I heard from the Father—in the law, with the prophets." He speaks this from the face of his flesh to dispel error. "I do not speak of myself, but that I have heard from my Father. But you say what you heard from your father the devil." And in order to prove that the devil, every time he speaks, manifests a lie in something, the Lord says about him: " When he tells a lie, he tells his own(John 8:44). I do not speak from myself, but from the prophets, from the law. This is the truth." So, just as the Savior, removing suspicion and removing evil assumptions about His assumptions, says: "I do not speak of Myself, like deceivers," so it must also be said about the Spirit.

10. Please pay attention here to the following. According to the Savior, there are many false Christs and false prophets; one said: "this is me", and the other: "this is me", as it is written: " Many will come under my name, saying that I am the Christ(Luke 21:8), and they will deceive many, but do not be deceived." Just as the name of Christ was appropriated by deceivers, so also many had to assume the form of people having the Holy Spirit, which they did not have, and speak about it. But there a man appeared, of course, and said: “I am the Christ,” but here no one dared to say: “I am the Holy Spirit,” because the Spirit did not descend in a bodily form, but invisibly. and they all acknowledged that they both had the Spirit of the Lord. Simon appeared and said, “I have the Spirit.” By outward appearance, no one can tell a person who has the Spirit from one who does not, a person who has an unclean spirit and one who has the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit were we see, then Simon would not have deceived, for after investigating the case he would have been exposed. Montanus came, saying, "I have the Holy Spirit;" Manichaeus came and said, "I have the Holy Spirit." He, the Spirit, was not seen. So so that people would not be deceived by the name, since the gift of grace had to descend invisibly, the Lord says: When will He, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, come?(John 16:13, 7), who proceeds from the Father, He will bring to your memory My words and guide you into all truth: for he will not speak of himself"(v. 13). Whenever you notice that someone says, "I have the Holy Spirit," but proclaims not the gospel truths, but his own fabrications, he speaks on his own, and there is no Holy Spirit in him. Indeed, the Lord also says about Himself: “I do not speak of Myself” in order to remove from Himself the suspicion of error; rather, in order to separate error from the truth and show who has the Holy Spirit and who does not, but only pretends, what he has, the Lord says: "The Spirit will not speak of Himself. You heard from Me what I conveyed. When the invisible Spirit comes, He will speak Mine. If you notice that someone repeats the words of the Gospel, then he really has the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will come to bring to your memory what I have taught you. Therefore, if anyone who says about himself that he has the Spirit will proclaim something from himself, and not on the basis of the Gospels, then do not believe him. Follow My teaching. He will not speak from Himself. But on the other hand, His appearance shows who received the Holy Spirit and who did not. If anyone repeats the words of Christ, he has the Holy Spirit. " No one can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit"(1 Cor. 12: 3). Manes came, truly "μανείς" (that is, insane), having a name corresponding to his error, and says: "I am the Comforter, whom the Savior promised to His apostles; I am the Son of God." Where in the Gospel of Jesus Christ did you hear that the sun and moon are creators? Where did Christ say that they consume souls and bring them back? Where did you read this? that Manes speaks here from himself, it is clear that he does not have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit "will not speak of Himself, but will announce to you what he hears, that is, he will confirm what I have said." "Just as the Savior, when he came, became the completion of the law and the prophets, so the Spirit is the completion of the gospel. Christ, having come, completed by himself what was spoken by the Father in the law and by the mouth of the prophets. Therefore, Paul says, "Christ is the fulfillment of the law." (cf. Rom. 10:4) The Holy Spirit, having come, completed the gospel: What is in the law, Christ completes, and what is in the teaching of Christ, the Spirit completes, not because the Father is imperfect, but as Christ appeared, confirming what is the Father, so the Holy Spirit also appeared, confirming that it is the Son. yells to students: " There is much more I have to tell you; but now you cannot contain. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth: for he will not speak of himself(John 16:12, 13). He completes mine." The Son completes what is of the Father, and does not speak from Himself. The Spirit completes that which is the Son, and does not speak from Himself. But if you hear someone say: "I will send you the Holy Spirit ", then do not understand the words in relation to the Deity, because God is not sent. These are names denoting activity, names hidden and clear: hidden if dignity is meant, clear if contemplation. Anyone who sends someone sends ", of course, to those places in which he himself is not. Imagine that I am talking to someone in this place. I cannot say to the latter: "Go, I will send you here." This does not mean to send, but - along with to sit or call to oneself. If God is everywhere, - and " heaven and earth, he says, i fill"(Jeremiah 23:24), then where does He send - the omnipresent one?" If I ascend to heaven - You are there; if I go down to hell, and there you are. Shall I take the wings of the dawn and move to the edge of the sea - and there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will hold me"(Psalm 139:8-10). So where does God send? Is not He Himself everywhere, and what He sends is not also omnipresent? God sent His Son into the world. Is it not like that which was present in the latter? After all, the world is from the Son. Therefore, did He come into the world as someone who had not been in the world until that time? As the evangelist John says: Everything came into being through Him… He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him"(John 1: 3, 10)? How then was He sent into the world? On the other hand, if the sent one was sent, and the sender remained in the mountains, the sent one remains below, then as the Lord said: " He who sent me is with me"(John 8:29)?

11. Please, pay your special attention, give stability to the speech. A heretic can say: "to eat with Me" - this means: "helps Me," just as I say: "God is with me." Not just said but what? " The Father is in me"(John 14:10). If the Father was with Him and dwelt in Him, how did He send, or how was This one sent? For if they came, both came, and no one was sent; or, on the other hand both remained. If the Father remained in the heavens, how then does the Son say, "The Father is with me?" I, said the Lord, in the Father and the Father is with me"(cf. John 10:38). How is he sent who says, "The Father is in me"? How, in turn, did the Father send Him? So, when the Lord says, "I will send you the Holy Spirit," it means: "the gift of the Spirit." And so that you understand that a gift is sent, and that the Spirit is not sent, the Savior says to the apostles: " But remain in the city of Jerusalem until you have been clothed with power from on high.(Luke 24:49) and receive the power of the Holy Spirit that has come upon you." One thing is the power that is given, and another is the Spirit that gives." All this is done by the same Spirit, dividing to each one individually, as He pleases."(1 Cor. 12: 11); So, you are not able to prove that the Holy Spirit is sent by a pure Deity. If I prove to you that the Creator of heaven and earth is sent by the Holy Spirit, then what will you do? Or reject Christ and destroy Scriptures, or, being a slave to the Scriptures, obey them. "Where," he says, "is this said?" Hear what God says through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, the herald of piety: " Hear Me, Jacob and Israel, My called: I am the same, I am the first ( 48:12), I am after this, and besides me there is no God." Turn your attention. Here follows what is sought. Who said this? Father or Son? See how, under the image of one-man command, he secretly preaches the Trinity. "I am the first God, and I am the last, and besides Me there is no God." Who says this? The Creator, because he adds: " My hand founded the earth"(Art. 13). See how the Creator says, "And My Spirit established the heavens; I gave My commands to all the stars; I stirred up the king according to righteousness, and all My ways are right." Calling Himself the Creator and Creator of heaven and earth, He then says the following: "I did not tell you this in secret from the beginning, and not in a hidden place." He said: " I founded the earth and created the sky; I was there; and now the Lord God has sent me and his Spirit" [whenever I was, there beh, and now the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit] (Art. 16). You who created heaven and earth, who said to the stars: "I was there; and now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent me" The Lord God and His Spirit sent me The Lord God and His Spirit." The heretic accepts the embassy of the Spirit in a sense offensive to Him. The Father sent without departing from Him and without withdrawing Him from Himself; the Son sent the Spirit without separating Him from Himself and Himself without separating from Him. Therefore, the Scripture says : "God poured out His Spirit" (cf. Joel 2:28), that is, the gift of the Holy Spirit. The divinity is not poured out, but a gift. Therefore, in order to prove that what is poured out is not the Holy Spirit, but the grace of the Divine Spirit, David says to Christ: grace is poured out of your mouth" [grace poured out in your mouth](Psalm 44:3). Grace is poured out, not the giver of grace. So, if the same honor is proclaimed, and if the expression: "from Myself" is explained, as well as the other: "from My will accept" is interpreted in the sense of borrowing, as it were, from a source, then let heretics have no place or loophole to secretly pass through it their own wickedness. Almost the Holy Spirit that you received. I have often said that you have received your reward: Christ took your image from you, and Himself gave you His Spirit.

Divine Revelation and our salvation is the work of the entire Holy Trinity, but God reveals himself to us through the Son of God Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and through Them saves us. Christ is close to us, as God became man, and the Holy Spirit is also close to us, since He dwells in us and unites us with Christ.

1. The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not appear hypostatically, personally, but as a Divine Power. In the Old Testament books He is usually referred to as the Spirit of God. This is what is said about His action at the creation of the world (Gen. 1:2) and about His providential action as the Giver and Guardian of life (Ps. 103:30; 138:7; Job 27:3; 33:4, etc.), but sometimes as Punisher, for example. Egyptians (Ex. 15:10). They contain evidence of the influence of the Spirit of God on the soul of a person, to which he communicates special knowledge and inspiration, making a person a prophet, an herald and an instrument of Divine Providence. It is said about such chosen ones that the Spirit of God was upon them, that they were filled with the Spirit of God, that He descended and rested on them (Ex. 313; 1 Sam. 10:10; 19:20; 2 Chronicles: 15:1; Neh. .9.20; 9.30). More than once it is said there about the Spirit of God resting on all the chosen people (Numbers 24:2; Nehemiah 9:20 and 9:30).

The prophets themselves foresaw in the future even more exceptional influences of the Spirit on the special Chosen One – the Messiah. For example, Isaiah says:

“A Child will come from the root of Jesse... and the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, will rest on Him. Spirit of advice and strength. Spirit of knowledge and godliness” (Is.P-,2). There are other prophecies, for example: Is. 42:1 and Is. 61.1. The prophets also predicted a special outpouring of the Spirit on the chosen people (for example, Ezek. 37:14; 39:29; Joel 2:28-29). The Apostle Peter refers to the prophecy of Joel on the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit. There is evidence in the Old Testament of the sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit in the soul of an individual, for example, Ps. 50 etc.

2. The Holy Spirit sanctifies the Old Testament Church.

The very holiness of the chosen people was determined not only by the fact that they were the guardians of the Word of God (the Law), but also by the fact that the Spirit of God was with them, in their sanctuary and in their prophets. All this served as a preparation for the coming of the Savior. The Spirit of God was preparing a place for Him in the world. Faith in the prophets never ceased in Israel. The Savior Himself testified of the divine inspiration of David (Matt. 12:3-4), and the Apostles testified of the divine inspiration of the prophets in general. The first events of the New Testament take place in a prophetic environment, since Joachim and Anna, Zechariah and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna, Joseph the Betrothed and St. John the Baptist should be called prophets.

3. The Holy Spirit in the Incarnation and Theophany.

At the conception of the Lord, the Holy Spirit descends on the Ever-Virgin Mary, and at the Baptism of the Savior, He appears above Him in the form of a dove. As the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Lord is not separated from the Holy Spirit, but from the time of Baptism he manifests this inseparability, although the Gospel records only certain moments of the Lord’s guidance by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:18; Mark 1:12; Luke 4:14; 4.18).

4. The teaching of the Lord about the Holy Spirit.

The Lord laid the foundation for His teaching about the Holy Spirit, speaking of Himself as the Anointed One, foretold by Isaiah the prophet (Luke 4:18; Isaiah 61:1). In a conversation with Nicodemus, the Lord revealed the secret of the second birth of people from the Holy Spirit through baptism (John 3:5-6; 3:8-34), and in a conversation with a Samaritan woman (John 4:13-14) and at the feast of the Midsection ( John 7:37-39) the mystery of the new grace-filled life in the Holy Spirit, describing it under the image of living water.

The Lord promised the help of the Holy Spirit to those persecuted for Him (Mark 13:11; Luke 12:12) and the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who ask for help” (Luke 11:13). All the miracles of the Lord were evidence of the Holy Spirit as the life-giving power of love, and the Lord called the doubt that they are not performed by the power of the Holy Spirit a blasphemy that will not be forgiven (Matt. 12:32; Mark 3:29).

The Lord's teaching about the Holy Spirit ends in His farewell conversation (John 14, 15 and 16 chapters). In it, the Lord directly promises to send down the Holy Spirit, “Which proceeds from the Father,” so that He may dwell in the world. Explaining that the sending of the Holy Spirit is conditioned by His, Christ, the atoning sacrifice, the Lord promises the disciples that the Holy Spirit will remind them of all His words, teach them everything and be their leader. In this sense, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Christ. From the same conversation it is clear that the Holy Spirit is given only to those who believe in Christ and strive for unity in love. The Holy Spirit unites believers with Christ and among themselves, overcoming everything that can separate people from Christ and from each other. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the "Comforter", He gives joy that no one can take away.

5. Descent of the Holy Spirit and the life of the Church.

Just before His ascension, the Lord solemnly confirmed to the disciples that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5-8), and this promise was fulfilled when, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of fiery tongues on the community of faithful followers of Christ. From this the life of the Church began, and the book of the Acts of the Apostles is the Gospel of the Holy Spirit and the Church.

Those who received the Holy Spirit were radically changed, filled with courage and wisdom, gained knowledge of languages ​​unknown to them before, and became zealous witnesses Christ's Resurrection and Truth. From this day on, all true evangelizers of Christ are alive and driven by the one supreme inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Who became the Overseer of the Church. It can be seen from the book of Acts that He clearly makes Himself known in the prayer meetings of the Church (Acts 4:31) and to every preacher of the Word (Acts 4:8; 5:32; 7:55, etc.). As the overseer of the Church, the Holy Spirit takes care of its growth, first among Jews and proselytes (i.e. Gentiles converted to the Jewish faith) (Acts 8:15-17; 26-40; 9:17-18 and 31), arranging the internal life of the Church in such a way that nothing hinders preaching (Acts 6:2-7), instructing evangelists (Acts 13:52; 20:22-23), showing them where to go (Acts 10:19-20 ) and where not to go (Acts 16:6-7). The Holy Spirit guides the conversion of the Gentiles, such as Cornelius the centurion (Acts 10:1-11, 18), and the mission of the Apostles Paul and Barnabas.

The Holy Spirit is so inseparable from the Church that an attempt to deceive her is revealed as a lie told to Himself (Acts 5:3-9). This incident (the sin and death of Ananias and Sapphira) testifies that all authority in the Church has its source in the Holy Spirit, of which there are other testimonies (Acts 20:28).

6. The action of the Holy Spirit on a person.

In the Apostolic Epistles, the influence of the Holy Spirit on man is more clearly revealed in connection with the mysterious providence of God the Father and the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ: the Holy Spirit, together with the Son of God, adopts us to God the Father (Eph. 2:18), makes us sons of God (Rom. 8:14), because He Himself is the Spirit of the Son, the Spirit of Christ (Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:19; Rom. 8:9). This adoption makes us free, since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of freedom (2 Cor. 3:17), and not the spirit of slavery and fear (2 Tim. 1:7), therefore the children of God do the will of the Father not out of fear, but by virtue filial love. Together with the Lord, the Holy Spirit also frees man from slavery to sin.

7. Fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The apostolic epistles also reveal the full significance of the Holy Spirit for the inner life of the individual and enumerate His spiritual fruits and gifts. These fruits are as follows: goodness, righteousness and truth (Eph. 5:9); and elsewhere: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23). This means that those who have received the fullness of the Holy Spirit no longer need the guidance of external rules, since the Holy Spirit Himself guides them into all truth.

From the fruits of the Holy Spirit it is necessary to distinguish His gifts, which are not grace-filled dispositions of the heart, but types of service or activity of a person for the benefit of one's neighbor and the Church. The Apostle Paul says: “The gifts are different, but the Spirit is the same... To one is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit,... to another faith... to another the gift of healing... to another miracle work, to another prophecy, to another discernment of spirits, different tongues to another, interpretation of tongues to another” (1 Cor. 12:1-10). The harmonious combination of the gifts of some Christians with others makes the Church a living organism, the Body of Christ. The gifts of the Holy Spirit also include the gifts of hierarchical service in the Church. But all gifts are only means to acquire great ones, and among them - the most excellent, at the same time gift and fruit of the Holy Spirit - love, about which the Apostle Paul says that in comparison with it - everything is nothing, because, says the Apostle, even “if I distribute all my possessions, and I will give my body to be burned, but I have no love; it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). Following the Apostle Paul, all the Fathers of the Church teach this way. At the beginning of the 19th century, perhaps the greatest of Russian saints, St. Seraphim of Sarov taught that the very goal of the Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, and that all Christian labors and deeds, such as: good deeds, fasting, prayer, etc. . are only means in relation to this end. Explaining this teaching to his disciple N. Motovilov, the Monk Seraphim was transformed: his face shone like the sun, and then, having prayed, he gave his disciple the opportunity to experience all the extraordinary fullness and power of the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit, namely - exceeding any earthly idea - peace, silence, joy, sweetness, warmth, fragrance, light. These gifts of the Holy Spirit are uncreated: the Holy Fathers call them Divine “energies,” i.e., the manifestation of Divine life, which is given to us from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, and with which we partake, bearing the fruits of the Spirit.

The Holy Church is the custodian of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.