Memory Text: Matthew 28:19 KJV “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

Sunday, March 26 The Triune God
How does these texts point towards the plurality of the Godhead?
Genesis 1:26 NKJV “Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."”
Genesis 3:22 NKJV “Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" —”
Genesis 11:7 NKJV “"Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech."”
Isaiah 6:8 KJ21 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then said I, "Here am I. Send me!"”
John 1:1-3 KJ21 “1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
John 8:58 KJ21 “Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am!"”

Monday, March 27 God the Holy Spirit – Part 1
How do the following help us understand the divine nature of the Holy Spirit?
Genesis 1:2 MKJV “And the earth was without form and empty. And darkness [was] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters.”
Genesis 1:2 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN The immediate agency of the Spirit, by working on the dead and discordant elements, combined, arranged, and ripened them into a state adapted for being the scene of a new creation.
Matthew 1:20 MKJV “And as he thought upon these things, behold, the angel of [the] Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take to you Mary [as] your wife. For that in her is fathered of [the] Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 28:19 MKJV “Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
John 14:16 NRSV “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”
Romans 8:11 NRSV “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.”
Acts 5:3-4 NRSV “3 "Ananias," Peter asked, "why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!"”
1 Corinthians 2:10-11 NRSV “10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:11 COMMENTARY BY JOHN GILL even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God; and which, as it proves how secret, hidden, unknown, the mysteries of grace are, until revealed by the Spirit; so it gives full evidence to the deity of the Holy Ghost, and clearly shows he must be God, who is in him, knows the thoughts of his heart, the counsels of his mind, his purposes and decrees, and what is contained in them.
2 Corinthians 3:17 NRSV “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Tuesday, March 28 God the Holy Spirit – Part 2
Acts 5:3-4 Holman “3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds from the field? 4 Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God!””
How does this text help us understand the divinity of the Holy Spirit?
1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28 Holman “4 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are different activities, but the same God is active in everyone and everything. 7 A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: 8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of languages, to another, interpretation of languages. 11 But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each one as He wills. 28 And God has placed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next, miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, managing, various kinds of languages.”
1 Corinthians 12:7 COMMENTARY FAMILY BIBLE NOTES All Christian gifts and graces come from the Holy Spirit. He bestows different measures of grace and means of influence upon different individuals, but always for the wisest reasons.
1 Corinthians 12:7 COMMENTARY BY WILLIAM BURKETT Others by faith here understand miraculous faith, that is, a supernatural confidence, and firm assurance, wrought by the Holy Spirit in the minds of some, in the apostle's time, by which they were certain that they could do such a miracle before they do such and such a miracle before they undertook to do it; and the greatest apostle durst never undertake to do a miracle, but when he was assured by the Spirit that he could do it: and indeed it was requisite for Almighty God, by some secret preceding impression of mind, to let the teachers of the gospel know when he would assist them in working miracles, lest they should attempt to work when they could not, and so discredit Christ's doctrine, their own authority, and dishonour the name of God.
What did Jesus call the Representative He was sending after He left?
John 14:16 Holman “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.”
John 14:16 COMMENTARY JOHN WESLEY NOTES And he will give you another Comforter-The Greek word signifies also an advocate, instructer, or encourager.

Wednesday, March 29 The Unity of God
How do these verses help us see the Holy Spirit’s divine nature?
2 Corinthians 13:14 Holman “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”
Matthew 28:19 God’s Word to the Nations “So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 28:19 COMMENTARY BY BARNES To be baptized unto the Holy Ghost is to receive him publicly as the Sanctifier, Comforter, and Guide of the soul. The meaning, then, may be thus expressed: Baptizing them unto the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by a solemn profession of the only true religion, and by a solemn devotion to the service of the sacred Trinity. The union of these three names in the form of baptism proves that the Son and Holy Ghost are equal with the Father.
How did Moses present God in the following text?
Deuteronomy 6:4 Holman ““Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.”
Deuteronomy 6:4 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY The three-fold mention of the Divine names, and the plural number of the word translated God, seem plainly to intimate a Trinity of persons, even in this express declaration of the unity of the Godhead. Happy those who have this one Lord for their God. It is better to have one fountain than a thousand cisterns; one all-sufficient God than a thousand insufficient friends.

Thursday, March 30 Evidences of the Holy Spirit’s Personality
What do these texts tell us about the work of the Holy Spirit?
John 15:26 Holman ““When the Counselor comes, the One I will send to you from the Father––the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father––He will testify about Me.”
John 15:26 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY In his office and operations, which are two:--(1.) One implied in the title given to him; he is the Comforter, or Advocate. An advocate for Christ, to maintain his cause against the world's infidelity, a comforter to the saints against the world's hatred. (2.) Another expressed: He shall testify of me. He is not only an advocate, but a witness for Jesus Christ; he is one of the three that bear record in heaven, and the first of the three that bear witness on earth. 1Jo 5:7-8. He instructed the apostles, and enabled them to work miracles; he indited the scriptures, which are the standing witnesses that testify of Christ, Joh 5:39. The power of the ministry is derived from the Spirit, for he qualifies ministers; and the power of Christianity too, for he sanctifies Christians, and in both testifies of Christ.
John 16:13 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE He will consider your feeble infant state; and, as a father leads his child by the hand, so will the Holy Spirit lead and guide you.

Friday, March 31 Further Study
SDA Bible Dictionary, p. 505 – “There has been much speculation regarding the nature of the Holy Spirit, but revelation has been largely silent on this subject. His personality is implied, for He is presented as performing the acts of a person. He searches, knows, intercedes, helps, guides, convicts. He can be grieved, lied to, resisted. He is listed with other persons—God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son—in such a way as to imply that He, too, is a person. But regarding His essential nature, silence is golden.”
SDA Commentary, Vol. 1 – comments on Genesis 1:2 – “From this place onward, throughout the whole Scripture, the Spirit of God has the role of the divine agent of God in all creative acts, whether of the earth, of nature, of the church, of the new life, or of the new man.”

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For that in her is fathered of [the] Holy Spirit.

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Consider what this verse reveals about the relationship between Christ and the Holy Spirit.

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John 14:16 NRSV “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”

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The Holy Spirit is to minister to us as Christ ministered to the diciples. Consider the diciples followed Christ. How do we follow the Holy Spirit?

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit... That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." Romans 8:1, 4, 5

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." Rom. 8:22, 23