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INTRODUCING THE HOLY SPIRIT
INTRODUCTION People in general know something about God’s Son, Jesus Christ; they know less about the Father, and practically nothing about the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, due to the fact that the Holy Spirit is the source of God’s supernatural power for the Church, it is certainly imperative to know who He is and His role in the life of the believer. We, the Church, have been given a supernatural commission by the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, and therefore, we need supernatural power to carry out that great commission. It is my great desire that as you read this writing, you will be blessed by spiritual knowledge and come to an understanding of your full potential as a child of God, and as a member of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church.
THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT In relation to this writing, one of the most interesting and exciting God inspired prophecies before the time of Christ, was uttered by the prophet Joel. He proclaimed, “I will pour out my spirit on all people...” (Joel 2:28). That astounding prophecy came true ten days after the Ascension of Christ to heaven. Just before His crucifixion and wonderful resurrection from death, Jesus comforted His disciples by informing them that although He must return to heaven, He would not leave them alone as “orphans”, but would ask the Father to send to them the Holy Spirit, Who would be to them what Jesus was: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever -- the Spirit of Truth” (John 14:16,17).
PENTECOST -- THE HOLY SPIRIT IS AVAILABLE TO ALL HUMANITY To loosely paraphrase Jesus, perhaps we could say, “And do not try to accomplish ministry until you receive the Holy Spirit’s power. Do not become priests, do not become deacons or parish council members, do not become Sunday School teachers, don’t form committees or organize churches -- don’t do a single thing -- until you receive the power of the Holy Spirit. You have been assigned a supernatural task, and you will need God’s supernatural strength to accomplish it!” In other words, trying to function as a Christian or as a church without the power of the Holy Spirit, is as silly trying to get electrical power from a dead circuit - but plug the line into a live circuit (power of the Holy Spirit), and you’ll get tremendous power to accomplish whatever you want to. Finally, fifty days after our Lord rose to life from the dead, the promised Holy Spirit came. That is the Day of PENTECOST, it is the birth of the Church. (This event is celebrated by the Armenian Church every year as a great feast in the spring). On that day, as the Disciples were praying together in the upper room where they had shared the Last Supper with the Lord, the unimaginable happened -- heaven’s gate opened and absolutely tremendous power fell from heaven, God’s Holy Spirit, came upon the believers. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house...” The visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit is described as “tongues of fire” in Acts 2:2,3. From that day to the present, unlike previously, God’s Holy Spirit was made available to all believers throughout the entire earth -- to whosoever believes in and accepts by faith, the Son of God. The late Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan explains this miraculous event in this way: “After the Ascension and the Pentecost, when the Church received the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room, Christ continued to do His work and acted through His Mystical Body, the Church, and He will so act henceforth. Thus the Church has the same function in the world that the human body of Christ had when He lived on this earth.” In this regard, a most fascinating passage is found in the Gospel of St. Luke, chapter four. In the first verse we read that Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit” as He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days by the Devil. And in the 14th verse, we read that after the forty days of temptation, Jesus returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit” to begin His public ministry.
SOME IMPORTANT LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST Ever since the birth of the Church, Christians have performed great works and miracles in the name of God through the power of His Holy Spirit. For many centuries our Armenian Church Fathers have prayed with faith and have displayed great spiritual power, with many miracles attributed to them. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Armenians were among the first missionaries to pagan populations, preaching boldly the Word of God and helped to establish Christian churches in foreign lands. Our Spirit-filled Armenian Forefathers were the first in world history to defend, at the cost of their lives and fortunes, the Christian Faith; and for that, they were referred to as the “Torch Bearer of Christianity” in the East. Sadly, today, in this so-called “Free and Christian” nation, we are losing many of our people, especially the youth, to secularism, non-Armenian Churches, and even to the cults. Unfortunately, many Christians today do not enjoy their Christian life as they should, and nor do they feel God’s presence in their individual lives, and also, not experience inner peace, simply because they do not know about the ministry of the Holy Spirit and their potential through Him. Neither do they know how to pray with the help of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, let us become acquainted with the Holy Spirit, and find out His relationship to the believer.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON AND HE IS GOD Further, from the testimony of Holy Scriptures, we have many examples of the personality of the Holy Spirit. For example, we know that He has a will and can make decisions (I Cor. 12:11); He speaks (Acts 8:29); the Holy Spirit’s feelings can be hurt (Ephesians 4:30); He has a mind (Rom. 8:27); and the Holy Spirit loves (Rom. 15:30).
NAMES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT What is the role of the Holy Trinity in relation to the gifts as described in verses 4, 5 and 6? Although there are different kinds of gifts, they all are given by the Holy Spirit. In the Church there are different kinds of service such as preaching, teaching, caring for the poor, giving donations, etc., but that service is for one Lord, Jesus Christ, who is the Leader of the Church. And concerning the different abilities mentioned in verses 7 through 11, such as the ability to speak with special wisdom and to pray for the healing of the sick, these abilities are given by God (the Father) to His children so that they may successfully carry on His work in the world through the Church.
THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE ARMENIAN CHURCH And concerning another great Armenian Church saint, it is recorded that St. Nerses Shenorhali “...used to gather around him those Bible loving people and lived with them. He used to read the Word of the Holy Spirit (Bible) and always talk with the Holy Spirit.” It is very interesting as well as important to note that the Armenian Church believes that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit are to be used and enjoyed by the Church even now, and that those abilities were not just for the early Church. This is clearly shown, for example, by the fact that when an Armenian celibate priest is ordained to the highest rank, known as Dzyrakoun Vartabed, the ordaining bishop, among other things, asks that that person be filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including the ability “...to teach, to reveal the Divine Scriptures, to speak in tongues, and to translate...” In addition, our Church Fathers have provided the Armenian Church with special prayers for the healing of the sick, as well as the prayer for the expelling of evil spirits from demonized people. A very interesting informative statement in this regard was made by Bishop Paren Melkonian in his writing entitled, “The Comparative Analysis of the Armenian Liturgies” (Brotherhood of Mekhitarists, 1950). He states that in the Armenian Church Father Antsevantsi’s interpretation of the Armenian Divine Liturgy, after the recitation of the Creed, the deacons “would bring into the church all that were behind the doors (those who were not prepared to receive Holy Communion) -- the catechumens, lepers, the demon possessed and the penitents -and the priest would then read a prayer upon them and the whole congregation would join in with supplication with healing.” Also in relation to the above, I want to mention that when I was at a meeting of Armenian clergy at the St. Vartan Cathedral in New York about seven years ago, Bishop Barkev Mardirosian, Primate of Karabagh was present, and he shared his experiences with us. He said that amidst all the bad news we hear about the politics and fighting between the Karabagh Armenians and Azerbaijan, we don’t hear about the good work God is doing among His people. Bishop Barkev then proceeded to give examples of how certain paralyzed young people accepted Jesus Christ, were baptized, received Holy Communion, and several days later, were miraculously healed of their paralysis. One was a young man who had suffered paralysis for ten years and was confined to a stretcher, and the other, was a young woman who was born paralyzed. He commented that these two were just a few of the many cases of miraculous healings which took place! Quite plainly, we believe in the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit through the Church, even in this day.
THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT AND THE
NORMAL CHRISTIAN
LIFE It is so vital for us to realize that if we pray regularly, and in our prayers if we also ask God to produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit in us, we will benefit greatly. God will begin to, for example, help us to love ourselves and accept ourselves in the proper way, and then, the Holy Spirit will enable us to love others. When we get into the habit of prayer, little by little, the Holy Spirit will also relieve our anxieties and depression, and help us to control ourselves in regarding unhealthy habits and ungodly lifestyles. I’ll never forget one teenager who was having terrible nightmares constantly, and she got to the point that she was terribly frightened to sleep at nights. But then she got into the habit of praying every night for God’s peace, and to also read a Psalm before going to bed. The nightmares stopped and she enjoys the inner peace of the Holy Spirit. For the Christian who is empowered with the Holy Spirit through prayer, worship and reading of Scripture, the troubles and challenges of life will still come, but will never conquer that person. God has promised that if we put our faith in Him and are firmly grounded in Him, then “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). Incidentally, these are great verses to memorize.
THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT There are many ways in which the Holy Spirit is active in the lives of people. Some of the more important functions are the following: 1. The Holy Spirit is God’s seal of ownership upon the believer and Satan cannot take the believer away from God (II Cor. 1:21-22). This is one of the greatest comforts we have from God, especially when Satan wants us to lose our confidence in our salvation. Incidentally, after the Baptism rite of the Armenian Church, the baptized believer is Chrismated, that is, sealed by holy oil (muron). The holy oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, and is also the symbolic seal of God upon the believer -- in other words, God is putting His seal of ownership upon the believer, and Satan cannot claim that person. 2. The Holy Spirit makes peoples’ conscience aware of sin -- He is constantly making humanity aware of their sinful condition and directing them to the Savior for help. “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin...” (John 16:8). 3. He miraculously transforms the believer into a child of God (John 3:1-8). We cannot save ourselves by any means, but the salvation of a sinner is a miracle of God through His Holy Spirit. 4. The Holy Spirit helps the Christian conform to the image of Christ (II Cor. 3:17-18). Despite our frustrations and failings in the Christian life to which we are called, the Holy Spirit will not give up on us. He will constantly work to improve us, and conform us more and more into the image and likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. This is called “sanctification”. God is constantly cleansing His children by various means and methods, even though some of these may seem harsh at the time. God disciplines those He loves! 5. He reveals the meaning of God’s Word to the Christian (I Cor. 1:11-16). This passage clearly indicates that spiritual knowledge is foolishness to the non-believer. It doesn’t make sense, and is not discerned by the non-believer. However, the believer has access to the mind of God, and the through the Holy Spirit, the Bible becomes alive and meaningful. Even if you don’t understand a passage immediately, the Holy Spirit will enable you to comprehend God’s Word in time and by various means. 6. He gives power and courage to Christians so they may witness for God (Acts 1:8). 7. The Holy Spirit will resurrect, that is, bring back to life, all the believers in Christ, just as He raised Jesus from the dead (Rom. 8:11). 8. He continuously prays for the believer (Rom. 8:26-27). Have you ever had trouble praying to God? Have you ever found it impossible to express your innermost needs and desires to God? Of course -- we all have had this experience. But the great news is that the Holy Spirit will help us pray! “...the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. ...the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” Well then, I hope the reading of this booklet has opened your mind to some of the most wonderful truths of God ever given to mankind. As St. Paul has said, no mind can conceive of the wonderful things God has in store for those who love Him. Certainly, the Holy Spirit of God and the potential we have through Him is uncomprehendable. Even the sky is not the limit for those Christians and Churches who cultivate a good and healthy relationship with the Holy Spirit. It is so upsetting to realize that many church goers haven’t the foggiest idea about the Holy Spirit and how God has intended to work with the Spirit in the lives of those who are His children. Among church groups, too often we see the spiritually weak, the spiritually lame and dying, when the truth is that things can be the opposite. WE NEED A SPIRITUAL RENEWAL IN OUR ARMENIAN CHURCHES. We need the build up of faith, and the power which comes with the Holy Spirit among our people. Let us take the banner of the Christian Faith and let the Armenian Christian once again be regarded as the “Torch Bearer of Christianity” as in our glorious past. Let us get away from the paranoia and silliness of the notion that the study of God’s Word, for the building up of our faith, is for non-Armenian Christians. We need the truth of God to survive as Christians. Our Catholicos, Karekin I has stated that a people may become Christian, but without the Bible and Christian education, they cannot remain Christian (“Challenge to Renewal”, 1996). Our Lord said, “...you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). We must be exposed to God’s truth through the Bible in order to attain faith through that knowledge. Truth is power, it is freedom. Satan has cleverly worked to keep many of our people in spiritual ignorance and bondage. Let us liberate ourselves with the Truth by the Holy Spirit Who is the Revealer of God’s Truth. And then, we will see miracles in our churches, and reclaim our lost youth. May the Guardian and the Hope of all the faithful, Jesus Christ, keep and preserve the Armenian Church Faithful under His Precious Cross in peace, and preserve them from all the enemies, both visible and invisible. May they be made worthy to enter into God’s Kingdom, to praise and worship God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit now and forever, amen.
A Prayer to the Holy Spirit by St. Nersess the Graceful Copyright © Renewal In Christ Mission. All Rights Reserved. |