REVIEW
 
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.  
Second Corinthians 13:14
 
So, we have seen that just as the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father are critical things for us to walk in as believers, likewise the communion of the Holy Spirit is just as important. Yes, all three of these things—grace, love and communion—work together and are of equal importance just as the Trinity works together and is of equal importance with one another. 
 
So, we have spent time in this series defining this word “communion.” The first thing we noted is that it comes from the Greek word koinonia. We saw that in the New Testament, this word is translated as “fellowship” more times than as any other word, likely being the best translation of this word. But then we looked at the English word that is used in this verse and saw what it means in order to get a better understanding of what the communion of the Holy Spirit is. So, we saw that as communion is the word used to describe the Lord’s Supper, it describes a uniting of two things or people together. Therefore, the communion of the Holy Spirit could describe the “intimacy or union of the Holy Spirit.” Then we looked back at the root word for koinonia and saw that it means “common.” Therefore, having communion with the Holy Spirit is us having something in common with Him. In other words, we have something in common with Him and share a common goal.” Praise God, that is what it means to have fellowship with the Spirit of God.
 
Therefore, we learned that the Holy Spirit is not a goose bump—because you cannot have fellowship with a goose bump! Nor is He a cloud, a vapor, or a feeling! Yet if you asked certain believers who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, this is exactly how they see Him. They relate to Him through these physical manifestations that He gives us—such as the goose bumps they feel, the cloud of glory they see, or the emotions they experience. But the truth is this: He is a person with a personality and emotions. The Holy Spirit is as much of a divine person as God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ because He is, in fact, the Third Person of the Godhead.   
 
Therefore, we ended a couple of weeks ago with a quote from the late Dr. R.A. Torrey who once said, “If the Holy Spirit is a divine person and we know it not, we are robbing a divine Being of the love and adoration which are due Him. It is of the highest practical importance whether the Holy Spirit is a power that we, in our ignorance and weakness, are somehow to get hold of and use, or whether the Holy Spirit is a personal Being who is to get hold of us and use us...”
  
Church, it is time for us to recognize the latter—that He is indeed a Person who stands at the door of our hearts and knocks, desiring to use us. And when we decide to invite Him into all of the rooms of our life and give this perfect Gentleman full access, it is then that we, like both the Head of the Church and Early Church itself, will turn our world “right-side up.” Amen!
 
Now last week, we looked further into His personality by looking at some of the emotions that Paul used to describe the Spirit of God:
 
First of all, we saw in James 4:5 that the “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?” And what we learned from that is that the Spirit that has come to settle down, make His home and permanently dwell in us, is bent with an all-consuming, ever-growing, excessive, passionate desire to possess us totally, and is envious and filled with jealousy toward anything or anyone who tries to take His place. Then we saw in Ephesians 4:30 that the Holy Spirit can be “grieved,” similarly to how a betrayed spouse who has been hurt, wounded, betrayed, misled, lied to, and abused can feel because He is our partner and He hurts when we are unfaithful to Him. And we saw that, through having a personality, the Holy Spirit has the capability of being angry or sad. He is capable of being grieved or excited. Remember, He is the One who yields the fruit of the Spirit in us. Therefore, He is love, peace, joy, etc. In short, He is a Divine Person with a Divine Personality that we can and should have communion and fellowship with!
 
So then, we began looking at how the Greek word koinonia describes a partnership. We did this by looking at how an akin word was used in Luke 5:10 when James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were described as “partners” with Simon Peter. And we saw how this means that James and John were Peter’s “co-workers” or you could say, “co-owners” in Peter’s fishing business. So, we saw that just as the sons of Zebedee “partook” of the miraculous catch of fish because they were Peter’s partners, likewise we reap the benefits of being in partnership with the Holy Spirit. Yes, He throws the net, we help him pull in the miracle, and we are sitting on the beach with Him just relaxing and enjoying a tuna salad sandwich, sipping on an Arnold Palmer (sweet tea & lemonade)!   
 
So, we learned that the word koinonia also denotes “partnering together with something or someone.” Yes, koinonia carries with it the idea of “joint participation” or a “partnership.” Church, He is there to help! And we learned this from Romans 8:26 when Paul said that the Spirit Himself also helps in our weaknesses. We saw that the word “helps” here comes from a triple compound Greek word that basically means that Holy Spirit has come alongside of us, partnering together with us against our weaknesses, and is resolved to take ahold of them with us in order to get rid of them.  Therefore, we learned that to “help” doesn’t just mean that we ask the Holy Spirit to do it for us. This word in Romans 8:26 denotes that we have partnered together with Him. Yes, He is the One who brings the increase. Sure, He is the One who builds the house. But there is a cooperation with Him that must take place where we yield our bodies to Him and invite Him to work in and through us to accomplish His kingdom purposes.  
 
So, we learned that we have a partnership with the Holy Spirit? We are a team! We work together to see God’s kingdom come and His will be done! And, finally, we saw in the Book of Acts that He has been given to us to make us Christ’s witnesses. Notice Jesus did not say that when we receive the Holy Spirit we will “go witnessing;” He said we will be witnesses! You see, witnessing is not just something you do; a witness is something you are. It is not just about going door to door, handing out tracks. Witnessing is testifying to something you have both seen and experienced. And the tragedy is when we go around trying to tell people about a Jesus that we’ve never experienced. Church, we need to see Him! We need to experience Him! We need to experience the power of His resurrection in our lives (see Philippians 3:10) so that we can be a true witness that Jesus is alive and still doing miracles in the earth today!
 
You see, the Holy Spirit is our partner, church! And when we begin to see Him as such and utilize this wonderful resource our Heavenly Father has given us, we will become better witnesses—witnessing both the power and presence of the Lord in us and through us. Amen and amen!
 
THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP
 
Now let’s look at another instance where this word koinonia is used in the New Testament--Philippians 1:5: In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he addresses a group of believers who understood the meaning of “fellowship.” In chapter one, Paul begins by saying how thankful and prayerful he was for them (vs.3-4), and then in verse 5, he explains why he was so excited about them: He says, “for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.” Now when you consider the context, you will find that Paul was not just talking about their relationship in the gospel, but rather to their financial “partnership” in the gospel. So, Paul was filled with joy every time he thought of their faithful partnership in the gospel that God gave him.
 
So, let’s move to the end of his letter and pick up in Philippians 4:15 where Paul continues describing this church’s partnership in the gospel: “Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only.”
 
Now this verse is why those maps in the back of your Bible are so handy. Paul said that when he departed from the province of Macedonia that the Philippians were the only church to keep “sharing” with him. What makes this so significant is when you consider how far Paul was away. He was several hundred miles away from them yet they still gave consistently into his ministry. Now in our modern society this would not be that big of a deal but back then they did not have a telephone, fed-ex, e-mail, etc. The Philippians had to make a special effort to find out where Paul was even at, much less send someone to find him and give him his offering. For these Philippians to go through that much trouble teaches me several things. Namely, it teaches me that my seemingly inconvenient times to give are nothing compared to the inconveniences they had! And it was not like they were a prosperous people either. Actually, they were living in deep poverty while they partnered with Paul’s ministry (2 Corinthians 8:2)! This gives us no excuse to not be extravagant givers and faithful partners since we live in the most prosperous nation on the planet!
 
Now that leads me to my next point: We know that one church that we know Paul was making reference to here was the Corinthian church because he corrected them in Second Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 for their laxness in the area of giving. In Second Corinthians 8:1 Paul begins to tell the church of Corinth about how the churches of Macedonia (one being the church of Philippi, a city in the region of Macedonia) had been extremely liberal in their giving. He said that they had gone well beyond their ability and even implored Paul and his companions to take their gifts to their brothers and sisters who had needs (vs. 2-4). Paul used the example of the Philippians giving to spur on the church of Corinth.
 
Now notice that Paul did not just say “giving,” but he also said “receiving.” This is because Paul knew that “giving and receiving” go hand in hand. With giving comes receiving! This is the law of sowing and reaping! In Second Corinthians 9:6 Paul says, “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” This means that with the same measure that we use in our giving, it will be measured back to us in our receiving. (see Luke 6:38).
 
SHARING FELLOWSHIP
 
Interestingly enough, the term Paul used for “shared” here in Philippians 4:15 is an akin word to koinonia. Therefore, being in fellowship with someone describes also both partnering with them and sharing with them as well. Therefore, another possible definition for the word koinonia that is used in Second Corinthians 13:14 would be the word “sharing.” You find this word translated with the word “sharing or contributing” in several other passages of Scripture. So, let’s look at some of them:
 
Paul also used the word koinonia in Second Corinthians 9:13 when he said, “while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men,”
 
Now this is obviously referring to the sharing of material things. There is no mistaking that—for in Second Corinthians chapters 8 & 9, the subject is strictly on giving, where Paul was attempting to stir up the church of Corinth to get in on this “fellowship” of giving and “sharing” with God’s people.
 
For example, in Second Corinthians 8:4, Paul describes how the churches of Macedonia were “imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.” Again, this is “fellowship” of ministering to the saints was obviously referring to them giving a gift to help these poor saints. 
 
But do you see here just how excited they were to give in this verse? Paul didn’t have to work them up at “offering time.” No, they were imploring him to let them get in on this, not him imploring them to give. So, this verse shows us that these believers took the initiative in their giving. They did not wait for “offering time!” They actually approached Paul and begged him to let them get in on ministering to the other saints. You know why they were so pushy to get in on it? It was because they saw it as a “fellowship” with Paul’s ministry—that is, they knew they would get in on his reward for it. In other words, in their mind, “fellowship” was akin to “sharing and giving.”
 
In fact, it is also used this way in Hebrews 13:16 when the writer(s) exhort us to not forget to do good and to share for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. So, we can see that things like doing good and sharing with others is the kind of sacrifices that God is looking for under our new and better covenant—the sacrifice of giving to others.
 
Another example of this is found in Galatians 6:6 where Paul tells us that we who are taught the Word are to share in all good things with him who teaches. I think what some people have taken that to mean is that when someone teaches them the Word, that they are supposed to come share with the teacher their revelation or what they think. No, that’s not the kind of “sharing” that he’s talking about. The “sharing” there is talking about giving to them—no, not your opinion, but offerings. Amen. For this is befitting in the eyes of the Lord.  
 
THE SPIRIT’S CONTRIBUTION
 
In Romans 15:26, Paul used this same word in the same context of financially supporting the poor saints in Jerusalem, stating that if these Gentiles (from Macedonia and Achaia) have “shared” in their spiritual things, then it is fitting that they, in return, give their material things (see verse 27). But in this verse, Paul says, “For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.” The word “contribution” here comes from the word koinonia.
 
Now it is clear that what he is talking about here is that these Gentile churches were happy to “give, sow, or share” their material things with their Jewish brothers and sisters. And this was apparently an appropriate time to use the word koinonia too. Therefore, we can see that one thing that is involved in “fellowship or communion” is a sharing back and forth between those who share this kind of relationship. Amen?  
 
So, let’s consider this for a moment: First of all, how can we “share” with the Holy Spirit whom we are in fellowship with. How can you and I “contribute” to Him? Well, we can begin by simply acknowledging Him every day—giving Him the fellowship that He yearns for. Then, we can “contribute” to Him by (like we see here in Romans 15:26) ministering to the needs of the saints around us. Didn’t Jesus say that whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done it unto Me (see Matthew 25:40)? So, when we “give, share, or contribute” to others, God takes that personal, and I just love what He says in Proverbs 19:17— "He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.” In other words, when we give to the poor, it is like we are contributing to God Himself, and when we do that, God will never be any man’s debtor. He will pay it back (with interest, I might add)! Also, one of the benefits of giving is the giving of praise and thanksgiving from those who receive to the Lord for His provision. (See 2 Corinthians 9:11) We can cause God to be praised more!
 
So, this is how we can contribute with the Holy Spirit, but I want to primarily focus on how He contributes to us: What this shows us is that when you are walking in communion with the Holy Spirit, He is there to “contribute” to you when you feel poor and are spiritually bankrupt. Yes, when you feel broke—whether it be spiritually, emotionally, or physically—the Holy Spirit is there to make a “contribution” into your spiritual bank account.
 
For example, in Philippians 1:19, Paul says, “For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”
 
The word “supply” comes from the Greek word epichoregeo which means “to fully supply” or “to abundantly provide.” This Greek word’s literal meaning is “on behalf of the choir,” as it was used in classical Greek to describe how a choir that had practiced hard and that had it all together received a “supply” that enabled them to perform. You see, this choir had practiced, they had prepared, they had done everything they knew to do on their part, but there was only one problem. They didn’t have the funds to travel and perform. That was when a very wealthy person stepped in and donated a large sum of money for their traveling expenses. He put the money in an envelope and wrote on it, “on behalf of the choir.”
 
You see, the choir had done all they could do to be successful but there was something extremely important that they needed in order to perform—they needed the finances. Likewise, we can do everything we know to do in order to be spiritually successful, but we need that extremely wealthy benefactor to step in and give us the “contribution” that we need. And we can clearly see here that this “supply” comes through the Spirit of Jesus Christ—that is, the same Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ had! Yes, the same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead and deposited into Him regularly throughout His ministry, is the same Spirit that will supply us with everything that we need to finish the task God has called us to. Yes, He is our wealthy benefactor who deposits the needed resources into our spiritual bank accounts that fully funds us to do what we are called to do. So when you come to the end of yourself, the Holy Spirit can come in and supply your need and get you through.
 
Yes, church, the Holy Spirit is a giver, a supplier, and a contributor! You know, there is a lot in the word of God in regard to us being givers. God is always encouraging us to give, give, give. But have you ever thought why God is so big on this? It’s because this is what He is! Yes, you have never met a bigger giver than God! Therefore, there is no one more apt to give than the Holy Spirit! Glory to God! He’s your greatest “contributor!”    
 
This is something that when you are in the position that we are in here stewarding a local church that you better understand—because you can be tempted to look to man as your source. So, as much as we certainly appreciate everyone here who tithes, gives offerings, supports special projects, etc., we look at God ultimately as our “contributor.”
 
Now Pastor Trey and Shannon give here. Pastor Robert and Doreen give here. And hopefully everyone else gives to this ministry. But the truth is we’ve had people that have come here that gave generously to this church, but now they’re gone. But we haven’t lacked. In fact, we are doing better now than we were doing then. And do you know why? Because God sent you and put on your heart to give your material things here. Therefore, He is one who “contributes”; He just chooses to use you and I to meet the needs.
 
Oh, and what a privilege it is to be used of God—for when we are obedient and purpose in our hearts to give, we cannot out-give the Giver Himself. He will give it back—pressed down, shaken together, and running over will He give into our bosoms (see Luke 6:38).
 
 WHAT MAKES LIVING WATER?
 
But I have personally found that the way that we tap into this fountain of living waters that supplies every thirst and meets every spiritual need, is by giving out like this.
 
Do remember the words of the Master in John 7:37-39 where we are told: “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
 
You see, there is a reason that Jesus described the Holy Spirit as flowing, living waters here. It is because there is an activity that is expected. Church, we are not created to be lakes or ponds that just collect water but never give out. What happens to a body of water that doesn’t have a way of giving out and taking in? It starts to stink and it looks nasty. We are supposed to constantly be giving out while also taking in. This is what creates life in us.
ADDICTED TO GIVING
 
And, church, let me tell you, this koinonia of ministering to the saints is addictive! We see this terminology used in First Corinthians 16:15 when Paul said, “I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)” Giving is an addictive thing. But it’s a good addiction! We always associate addictions with bad things, but we ought to be addicted to good things like the Word of God, prayer, and GIVING.
 
You see, when you start doing it—the joy you receive from giving cannot be obtained in anything else—and just that joy itself makes it all worth it. But that’s not the only benefit! You will also reap what you sow. Therefore, when you give, it comes back to you!
 
Bless God, it’s like sowing any physical seed. When you sow watermelons, you reap watermelons. But guess what else you get inside those tasty watermelons? You get more seed! Hallelujah! So, when you sow watermelon seeds, you reap watermelon fruit (which in this case would be joy), and you reap more watermelon seed to start the whole process over again. Glory be to God forever!
 
So, when you start getting a positive cycle of this working in your life, you don’t want to start giving less; you want to give more! Yes, you get addicted to giving!    
 
So, when someone starts to notice the change in you, and pick up on the fact that you have gotten yourself addicted to something, get ready to give an answer to those who ask— “You look well. What is it that you have that I don’t?” Like it’s a disease, you just tell ‘em, “I got “the Stephanas” and there ain’t no cure!” LOL!   
 
THE KEY TO THE COMMUNICATION OF OUR FAITH
 
Now, in conclusion, let’s look at another time where the apostle Paul uses the word koinonia in the Scriptures: It is found in Philemon 6. In this verse, the apostle Paul says, “that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”
 
Now the word “sharing” here in this verse is again from the word koinonia, but this sharing is not just referring to the giving of material things. Here, it seems to be referring to all aspects of the fellowship of our faith from the “communication, fellowship, partnership, and sharing of our faith—both monetarily and verbally.”
 
But I want you to notice how our fellowship is going to be more effective, energized and powerful; it is going be accomplished “by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”
 
Now there are certainly a lot of good things that Christ Jesus has deposited into us, but arguably the largest deposit that He ever made in all of us was the Holy Spirit. Yes, the mighty Holy Spirit—the One who works many of these good things in us—is who we need to begin acknowledging. Therefore, this applies to the communion of the Holy Spirit by showing the importance of a lifestyle that is enveloped in communication. We need to stir ourselves up to communicate with Him, and we need to be open to having Him communicate back with us. In other words, keeping the lines open (i.e. not hanging the phone up). When we learn to acknowledge Him in all our ways, He will be able to direct our paths (Sounds like a good Scripture😊). Sharing with Him opens the doors to Him being able to share with you. Amen.

REVIEW
 
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.  
Second Corinthians 13:14
 
So, again, in this verse, the apostle Paul was concluding his second and last letter to the church of Corinth with this prayer for them. Now I have made the point that this was the last verse of 29 chapters that Paul wrote to the Corinthians (when you combine both his first and second epistles together), and were most likely the last words that he ever spoke to their church. And the reason this is important to understand is because these must be super-significant words to both the apostle Paul and to the Holy Spirit who inspired Him to write this prayer.
 
So, we have seen that just as the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father are critical things for us to walk in as believers, likewise the communion of the Holy Spirit is just as important. Yes, all three of these things—grace, love and communion—work together and are of equal importance just as the Trinity works together and is of equal importance with one another.  
 
So, we have spent a little time all three weeks defining this word “communion.” The first thing we noted is that it comes from the Greek word koinonia. We saw that in the New Testament, this word is translated as “fellowship” more times than as any other word, likely being the best translation of this word. But then we looked at the English word that is used in this verse and saw what it means in order to get a better understanding of what the communion of the Holy Spirit is. So, we saw that as communion is the word used to describe the Lord’s Supper, it describes a uniting of two things or people together. Therefore, the communion of the Holy Spirit could describe the “intimacy or union of the Holy Spirit.” Then last week we looked back at the root word for koinonia and saw that it means “common.” Therefore, having communion with the Holy Spirit is us having something in common with Him. In other words, we have something in common with Him and share a common goal.” Praise God, that is what it means to have fellowship with the Spirit of God.
 
Now, in this series, we are spending some time looking at the Book of Acts—as it illustrates to us how the Early Church operated. And we saw that they were a Body of believers who were completely dependent on their communion with the Holy Spirit. No, they did not have the privilege you and I do today to have the complete Word of God because throughout those 28 chapters, the New Testament had not even been written yet. So, they were completely dependent on the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, teach and instruct them. Now through understanding this, compare the results of the early church with the results of the church today. It would be an understatement to say that they had more of an impact on their world than we are having on ours today. Amen?  It is for this reason that I believe the modern-day Church is not nearly as effective as the early, First Century Church was. Yes, it is because of the church of today’s lack of respect for the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
 
So, even though most of our Bibles title this Book— “The Acts of the Apostles” — I believe a more accurate title would be— “The Acts of the Holy Ghost through His Church.” You see, it was not just apostles who did the things we see described in the Book of Acts. There were deacons, pastors, evangelists, and even children who were playing a part in turning the world “right-side up.”
 
So, we began in Acts 1:1-3 and saw how even Jesus did the things He did “through the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, even He walked in the communion of the Holy Spirit—doing all of the mighty works that He did through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Then we saw how Jesus said in Acts 1:4 that He had taught His disciples about HIM. And we looked at some of these verses and found that in just 9 verses contained in John chapters 14-16, He referred to the Holy Spirit with a personal pronoun 22 times! 
 
So, we learned that the Holy Spirit is not a goose bump! Nor is He a cloud, a vapor, or a feeling! Yet if you asked certain believers who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, this is exactly how they see Him. They relate to Him through these physical manifestations that He gives us—such as the goose bumps they feel, the cloud of glory they see, or the emotions they experience. But the truth is this: He is a person with a personality and emotions. The Holy Spirit is as much of a divine person as God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ because He is, in fact, the Third Person of the Godhead.   
 
Therefore, we ended with a quote from the late Dr. R.A. Torrey who once said, “If the Holy Spirit is a divine person and we know it not, we are robbing a divine Being of the love and adoration which are due Him. It is of the highest practical importance whether the Holy Spirit is a power that we, in our ignorance and weakness, are somehow to get hold of and use, or whether the Holy Spirit is a personal Being who is to get hold of us and use us...”
  
Church, it is time for us to recognize the latter—that He is indeed a Person who stands at the door of our hearts and knocks, desiring to use us. And when we decide to invite Him into all of the rooms of our life and give this perfect Gentleman full access, it is then that we, like both the Head of the Church and Early Church itself, will turn our world “right-side up.” Amen!
 
Again, church, this recognizing Him as a person and then relating to Him as such is what makes us more usable. It is like a marriage—you and your spouse can live under the same roof but if you don’t have communion (that is, you are not intimate, you don’t enjoy fellowship, or you are not unified), then your marriage relationship will not be as productive as it ought to be.
 
Let’s look at a few verses that describe more about our Divine Partner—because I believe it will show us more of what His heart longs for. As I have said, we cannot have communion with a goose bump. Therefore, it is imperative that we see Him as He is in truth—the Third Person of the Trinity:
 
THE EMOTIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
 
Since He is a Divine Person that means that He has a divine personality. He has emotions and feelings just like we do. In James 4:5, the Word of God says, “Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’?”
 
Now the language here is very impacting when you understand what James was saying: First of all, notice that he describes the Spirit as “dwelling” in us. This word describes someone “residing” or “inhabiting” somewhere permanently. We would say that they are “living in their home.” Then the word “yearns” describes how someone would “greatly desire or long for” someone else because of their heart for them. And, finally, the word “jealously” is the common word used for “envy”—which is always (except for this one time) used to describe a work of the flesh, not a work of the Spirit. So, is the Holy Spirit violating His very nature here? Heavens, no! This simply describes His heart of love for each of us, and His unwillingness to share us with anyone or anything else. Yes, the Holy Spirit greatly desires, longs for, and yearns for you and I! And why? It is because His personality and emotional makeup is to have fellowship with you, and you with Him, that is not unfaithful in the least!
 
Now I am not sure where the specific Scripture reference that James is referring to here is located but I do know that there are a lot of references in the Old Testament to the Lord’s desire for his people to be faithful and not “play the harlot.” So, there are certainly a lot of examples that we can draw from in the Old Testament that describe the Lord’s desire to have this kind of “unadulterated” relationship with His people. Not to mention, this statement is preceded by verse 4 that calls us “Adulteresses” if we make ourselves friends with the world. That is because we are “married” to God and when we try and have a relationship with our ex-husband, the world, we are being unfaithful to our current mate. The Holy Spirit represents that current mate here and the Word says that He “yearns jealousy.”
 
Therefore, a paraphrase I like to use of this verse is as follows: “The Spirit that has come to settle down, make His home and permanently dwell in us, is bent with an all-consuming, ever-growing, excessive, passionate desire to possess us totally, and is envious and filled with jealousy toward anything or anyone who tries to take His place.”
 
Ephesians 4:30 portrays something similar: It says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The word “grieve” is the Greek word lupete and is most commonly translated to be sad or sorrowful. I have heard that it is used to denote the emotions of a betrayed spouse, such as, being hurt, wounded, betrayed, misled, lied to, and abused. He is our spouse and partner and He hurts when we are unfaithful to Him.
 
But a good question then is: What are some things that “grieve” the Holy Spirit? Well, the verses surrounding this one speaks of “lying, anger, stealing, corrupt communication, bitterness, wrath, unforgiveness” and so forth. This includes how we talk, and reminds us of the old rule, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Therefore, some of the things that make the Holy Spirit feel betrayed are when we choose these other things above what He desires and wants for us. Again, it is like choosing to be intimate with another, which has similar effects on the Spirit as that would have on our spouses.
 
You see, when we willingly turn our hearts from what our Divine Spouse desires from us, we not only “grieve” the Spirit, but we also can “quench” Him as well (First Thessalonians 4:18). “Quenching the Spirit” can refer to extinguishing the gifts of the Spirit, but I believe it also can refer to what happens when we continually grieve Him. The word “quench” means “to extinguish or to put out.” I believe this is why the majority of baby Christians lose their zeal and enthusiasm in serving the Lord. It’s because when the Holy Spirit starts to deal with sin in their hearts, they get to a point where they are unwilling to cooperate with Him, thus throwing sand on the fire that He’s given them and “quenching” the flame. We must honor and esteem His council in order to remain a gracious host for Him to live in. When we don’t do this is when the fire goes out of your relationship with Him.
 
So, through having a personality, the Holy Spirit has the capability of being angry or sad. He is capable of being grieved or excited. Remember, He is the One who yields the fruit of the Spirit in us. Therefore, He is love, peace, joy, etc. In short, He is a Divine Person with a Divine Personality that we can and should have communion and fellowship with!
 
THE SPIRIT HIMSELF IS THERE TO HELP
 
Now someone might have said throughout all of the references we have used to describe the Holy Spirit as a Person, “Aren’t there two verses in Romans chapter 8 that use the word ‘itself’ in reference to the Holy Spirit? I recall in my King James Bible these times where the Holy Spirit is referring to as an ‘it.’” And the answer to that question is this: “Yes, there are in the Romans 8:16&26.” The King James Version translates the Greek word autos “itself” in both of these verses. However, this word is translated “he, him, himself, etc.” over 3,000 times as opposed to “it or itself” which is only used 190 times. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the King James translators made the wrong decision in translating this word in these two verses.
 
And it is interesting that we are here in Romans chapter 8 because this chapter is such an important chapter in describing to us one of the benefits of walking in this communion with the Holy Spirit.
 
Did you know that the Holy Spirit is only referenced a couple of times in Romans chapters 1-7, but in Romans chapter 8 itself, He is referred to over 20 times! What that shows us is that, just as there is an obvious emphasis placed on the Holy Spirit in Romans 8, there is obvious importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives today to walk out our salvation!
 
You see, so many times, we feel like the person Paul described in Romans chapter 7. The servant of God described in this chapter wanted so much to please God and to do the right thing, but he lacked the power to perform those desires. His testimony was “Oh, what a wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:24). And this is exactly what having a desire to do one thing, but lacking the strength and ability to fulfill those desires will do to us.  It will utterly frustrate us and make us miserable.
 
But, praise be unto God, we don’t have to live that way!  We have the solution to this dilemma in Romans chapter 8!  And the gist of Romans chapter 8 is the same as that of Philippians 2:13—that we have God living on the inside of us in the person of the Holy Spirit, and He is working in us not only the desire to do what is right, but also the ability to live what is right. This is the power of the Spirit-filled life, my friends!  He enables us to do what we could never do because of the weakness of our flesh. Thank you, Jesus!
 
Isn’t that wonderful, church? We have something in common with the precious Holy Spirit! And guess what that is? It is that the Body of Christ and the Spirit of Christ agree on seeing the kingdom of Christ increase more and more! Amen!
 
In fact, one of the Scriptures that we just looked at in Romans chapter 8 describes this beautifully. Romans 8:26 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses…” The Greek word for “help” here is actually a triple-compound word. It is the word sunantilambano (That would make a great password, wouldn’t it?). When taken apart, this word literally means “with, against, and to take,” meaning He is “with us” denoting partnership, that He has partnered with us to be “against” something, and to “take hold” of it. So, you can translate, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses”, as “Likewise the Holy Spirit also partners with us in being against weaknesses by taking hold of them.” Therefore, we have this thing in common with the Holy Spirit: We are both against our weaknesses, and we are both resolved in taking hold of those weaknesses and getting the help we need. Amen!
 
But “help” doesn’t just mean that we ask the Holy Spirit to do it for us. This word in Romans 8:26 denotes that we have partnered together with Him. Yes, He is the One who brings the increase. Sure, He is the One who builds the house. But there is a cooperation with Him that must take place where we yield our bodies to Him and invite Him to work in and through us to accomplish His kingdom purposes.   
 
For example, like in this verse, we might have a situation where we don’t know how to pray. We are at a loss, and don’t know what to pray for. Well, this is when that wonderful prayer language we have been given comes in handy. We simply yield ourselves to the mind of Christ within us and pray in other tongues for an extended period of time—believing God to give us the answers and pray out His perfect will through us. This is one of the ways we yield ourselves to Him and cooperate to see all things work together for our good. Yes, I spend time communicating with the Holy Spirit—both doing what I know to do and doing what He tells me to do—and then I can fully expect the Holy Spirit to help me in my weaknesses.  
 
You see, say I asked someone to come “help” me move the pulpit, but when they came up to help me, I sat down and expected them to do it themselves. That wouldn’t be them “helping” me; that would be them doing it for me. But the fact is, the Holy Spirit has been sent to help us and as we learn to be led by, yield to, and cooperate with Him, all things are possible for us because the “Helper” has something to work with. Amen!  
 
So, do you see that we have a partnership with the Holy Spirit? We are a team! We work together to see God’s kingdom come and His will be done!
 
PARTNERS WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
 
And, in fact, this is another way that the Greek word koinonia—the word used by the apostle Paul to describe the communion of the Holy Spirit—is defined.  So, let’s dig a little deeper into this Greek word for “communion” that the apostle Paul used in Second Corinthians 13:14.  
 
Again, we have seen thus far that this word means “fellowship, union, and intimacy,” but I want to show you yet another interesting description of this word that goes along with what we’ve just seen: The word koinonia also denotes “partnering together with something or someone.” Yes, koinonia carries with it the idea of “joint participation” or a “partnership.”
 
Let’s look at another passage in the New Testament where a derivative of this word is used because I see it as a good illustration of what it means to have “communion” with someone: In Luke 5:10, the Bible says, “…James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon…” So, an akin word to “koinonia” is what is being translated “partners” here. Therefore, we might say that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were Peter’s “co-workers” or you could say, “co-owners” in Peter’s fishing business.
 
Now let me give you a good word of encouragement here: Just as the sons of Zebedee “partook” of the miraculous catch of fish because they were Peter’s partners (You see, their boat was filled too (see Luke 5:7), likewise we reap the benefits of being in partnership with the Holy Spirit. Yes, He throws the net, we help him pull in the miracle, and we are sitting on the beach with Him just relaxing and enjoying a tuna salad sandwich, sipping on an Arnold Palmer (sweet tea & lemonade)! Glory be to God!    
 
So, koinonia carries with it the idea of an intimate joint participation with someone or something. And like I made mention of last week, the root word koinos means “common.” So, when you apply this to “koinonia” you can see how “koinonia” carries the idea of “having something in common with somebody or having a common goal.” So, we could translate that part of Second Corinthians 13:14 like so: “and the partnership of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
 
BECOMING A WITNESS
 
So, let’s conclude today’s teaching by going back over to the Book of Acts and looking at some things that describe how the Holy Spirit partners together with us today:
 
Let’s pick back up in Acts 1:4, where the Lord was telling his disciples to wait for the promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;” Then he goes on to say in verse 5— “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Even John the Baptist said this in Matthew 3:11 when he said, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
 
Now we will get more into this in the future, but it is important for us realize that being baptized with the Holy Spirit is for all of the Lord’s disciples. As important as being baptized in water is, the baptism in the Holy Spirit yields its own wonderful benefits in our lives—and one of those benefits is found in the following verses…
 
But like so many in the church today, Jesus’ disciples didn’t get it here. They immediately transitioned to the natural side of things by asking Him if this was the time that he was going to restore the kingdom to Israel (see verse 6). But Jesus turned it back around to what was important when He said, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (see verses 7-8). Let me paraphrase what I believe Jesus was saying here— “Times and seasons are not to be your concern. That is God’s sphere of authority, not yours. What is important, however, is that you understand what is in your control—and that is that you receive and walk in this power that the Holy Spirit will endow you with. For this is what enables you to be the kind of witnesses I need no matter what time or season you are living in.”
 
You see, church, so many people in the church today like to get into things like dispensationalism, end time events, etc.—trying to figure out when this is going to happen, what that is going to look like, etc. But what the Lord was communicating to His disciples, both yesterday and today, is that our focus needs to be on being quality witnesses for Him no matter what happens in the world around us. In other words, our attention doesn’t need to solely be on being able to tell what is going to happen; our attention needs to be primarily on being ready for whatever happens. Amen?
 
In fact, we see this illustrated in just a few verses when Jesus was supernaturally taken up and received into a cloud after He had spoken these very words to them. We are told that as the disciples continued to look steadfastly into the heavens that what were obviously two angels stood by them, asking them, “Why are you guys gazing up into heaven? The same way Jesus was taken up is the same way He will return” (see verses 9-11)
 
You see, too often believers put their attention on things that do no good. For example, there are those who keep looking for supernatural things that happened in the past (like His disciples were doing here) and become ineffective in the present. Others turn their attention to the heavens, only looking for His soon return, and are useless in the world we live in today. Saints, we certainly need to be cognizant of the fact that He is coming back soon and very soon, but not at the risk of taking our hand off the plow and seeking first the kingdom of God in our everyday life.
 
We need to be His witnesses in the time and season that we are presently living in, church! And the only way we can be effective witnesses for the Lord is by receiving this partnership with the Holy Spirit!       
  
Now notice that Jesus said that when they had received this power after the Holy Spirit came upon them that they would be witnesses. And when Jesus had spoken in Luke 24:49 about them being “endued” with this power, that word meant that they would be “clothed” or “transformed” with the power. So, it is when the power comes that we are enabled to be His witnesses. I bring this up because, how many Christians are trying to be witnesses for the Lord without ever receiving the power (or, ability) of the Lord? No, Jesus did not say that when we receive the Holy Spirit we will “go witnessing;” He said we will be witnesses! You see, witnessing is not just something you do; a witness is something you are. It is not just about going door to door, handing out tracks. Witnessing is testifying to something you have both seen and experienced. And the tragedy is when we go around trying to tell people about a Jesus that we’ve never experienced. Church, we need to see Him! We need to experience Him! We need to experience the power of His resurrection in our lives (see Philippians 3:10) so that we can be a true witness that Jesus is alive and still doing miracles in the earth today! When people see His goodness in and through us, it will validate what we are saying as His witnesses. That is what it means to be His witnesses! Amen!
 
And notice where Jesus went on to say that they would be His witnesses: “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
 
Notice that the first place that Jesus mentioned for His Jewish disciples to begin was in the city where they were currently living—Jerusalem. Then He told them in all of Judea and Samaria, which was the surrounding country and region. And, last but not least, He included all of the earth so that they were not confused about His intention to preach the gospel to everyone everywhere.
 
But I believe this shows us a practical model for witnessing: We start where we are at—that being with our neighbors, in our city, or where we are at in our hearts. Then we move on to the next sphere of influences in our lives (i.e. our Judea’s and Samaria’s). And finally, we aspire to witness for Him even to the ends of the earth.
 
My point is this: The Holy Spirit is the One who makes us Christ’s witnesses! But, you know, many believers are terrified of witnessing. And why? One of the main reasons is because they are afraid they will not know what to say, but this is why we were given the Holy Spirit! He is in us to help us through those occasions where we are witnessing to an unbeliever. You see, He knows that person inside and out. He knows everything about them. So, all we have to do is approach the person when the Holy Spirit leads us to and then listen with the ear of our heart to how the Holy Spirit coaches us through it. He will give us creative examples to minister to them. He will bring Scriptures to our remembrance. He will prompt us when to listen and when to speak. He will guide us through the whole process if we will just depend on Him. I like to say that the Holy Spirit is witnessing made fun 😊! He will make us look good in witnessing (and in life in general) if we will just heed His instruction and learn to work together with Him.
 
The Holy Spirit is our partner, church! And when we begin to see Him as such and utilize this wonderful resource our Heavenly Father has given us, we will become better witnesses—witnessing both the power and presence of the Lord in us and through us. Amen and amen!

INTRODUCTION
 
So, we are continuing our journey today into a subject that is unchartered territory for so many believers—the Third Person of the Godhead, the mighty Holy Spirit.
 
Now we made the point that, sadly, the Holy Spirit is not talked about in many churches today. Yes, you can talk to a lot of believers out there about the Holy Spirit, and they would respond like the Ephesians did when Paul asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit since they believed, saying, “We have not heard whether there is a Holy Spirit” (See Acts chapter 19). Sure, He is mentioned casually here and there in some churches, but an emphasis is usually not placed on His everyday ministry in our lives. Now I made the point that in some groups, He is talked about a lot, but their emphasis is usually more on what He does, to where He is usually referred to as some force or power.
 
So, what we are going to do in this series of teachings is emphasize His Person—learning who He is, while also learning what He is here to do in our lives. We are going to do this by teaching on Him and His ministry up one way and down another, learning how to fellowship and partner together with Him. We will also learn of the advantages He provides to us in our everyday lives. We will look at all of the ways in which He is typified in God’s Word. We will also wind up looking at the gifts that He provides to us, the fruit that He produces in us, and how we are to be led by Him on a daily basis.
 
However, as I expressed last week, my purpose and intent through this series of teachings is not to primarily make you know more about the Holy Spirit; it is to provoke in you a desire to know Him—that is, to know the Holy Spirit personally and in a more intimate way. If what I accomplish through these messages is simply help you to acknowledge Him more in your everyday lives, I will consider this series a success. But if all we do is just file this information away in our memory bank and let it collect dust, then we are missing the point of why we are studying these truths.
 
So, let’s not do that. Let’s commit to applying these truths into our everyday lives, and I will give you the unconditional guarantee that your life will be much more Spirit-led, Spirit-empowered, and Spirit-filled. Amen.
 
 
REVIEW
 
So, let’s go back over to Second Corinthians chapter 13 and look again at our golden text—the last words that the apostle Paul likely ever uttered to the Church of Corinth—because this prayer Paul prayed over this church contains three powerful truths that will usher us into the importance of the entire Godhead’s ministry in our lives. Amen?
 
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.  
Second Corinthians 13:14
 
So, again, in this verse, the apostle Paul was concluding his second and last letter to the church of Corinth with this prayer for them. Now I made the point last week that this was the last verse of 29 chapters that Paul wrote to the Corinthians (when you combine both his first and second epistles to them), and again were most likely the last words that he ever spoke to their church. Why is that so significant, you ask? It is because it shows us how important the things contained in this prayer must have been to Paul!
 
Well likewise, in Paul’s mind, the things that he listed in this prayer must have been three of the most important things that you could pray for someone else or even yourself. On top of that, since all Scripture is inspired by God, we know that this prayer is the express will of God for all men. (This is further verified in that Paul ended his prayer with— “be with you all.”) So, since this prayer in Second Corinthians 13:14 reveals the perfect will of God for every believer for all time, and because it was important enough to the apostle Paul for him to conclude his ministry to the Corinthians with this prayer, shouldn’t we pay close attention to these three things?
 
Now one thing we looked at last week is that this prayer refers to all three members of the Trinity.
And that is what the apostle Paul is looking to do here—praying that the Church of Corinth would walk in the benefits of the Trinity’s ministry in our lives. But we talked about the fact that most people do not see the Holy Spirit in the light of Him being the Third Person of the Godhead. But He is! However, most believers do not see Him this way; rather, they see Him as something like a servant of God or a force or power that God uses. But the truth is that if He is the Third Person of the Godhead, He is both a Person and He is God. And we saw that because of this so many believers do not experience the life of God today because they have not yet learned to honor the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
 
But this is a great time for us to say, “Not us!” Not this church! We are going to learn to both respect and esteem the Holy Spirit in our lives and walk in the benefits of His ministry.” Amen? 
 
Now, regarding Paul’s prayer for the Church of Corinth, we looked at these three things in detail. We asked the question that if you and I were going to pray for only three things for someone very near and dear to our heart, what would those three things be? I would venture to say that our “Top 3” might not mirror Paul’s list. As I said last week, we might ask for “the healing of the Lord Jesus Christ, the prosperity of God, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit be with me and my family. Amen.” But Paul, like in many of His prayers for the church, had different things in mind to pray for his churches. For example, in none of his prayers did he pray for these churches to increase in natural things. They contained requests only for spiritual perception (wisdom, understanding, discernment, and revelation) and for spiritual growth (power, strength, and fruit). And we saw that this prayer at the end of Second Corinthians was no different. Now even though our prayer requests might differ some from Paul’s, it is more likely that the first two items would be things we see as important—grace and love.
 
So, these first two things—the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God—mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his prayer are fairly obvious to most of us. Most churches would not object to these as being two out of the three final things that we were going to pray for someone, but the last thing probably wouldn’t even cross the minds of most of the church— the communion of the Holy Spirit.
 
So, we saw that if the apostle Paul included the communion of the Holy Spirit in his “Top 3 things to pray for those we love” then it must be just as vital to our success in the Christian life as the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God is. Yes, they all three work together and are of equal importance. And can you understand why? It is because all three of these things represent the three predominant and present-day ministries of the Godhead in our lives! God the Father manifested and continues to manifest His love toward us! Jesus Christ provided all the grace we will ever need through His death, burial, and resurrection! And the Holy Spirit’s ministry on the earth is to have “communion” with us. Praise God!
 
So, we began a couple of weeks ago defining this word “communion” and we saw that it comes from the Greek word koinonia. We also saw that in the New Testament, this word is translated as “fellowship” more times than as any other word, likely being the best translation of this word. This is also substantiated by the fact that the majority of translations translating this phrase “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.”
 
So, we looked at a couple of verses in the New Testament where this word koinonia is used, one of them being Galatians 2:9 where we are told how Peter, James and John gave Paul and Barnabas the “right hand of fellowship.” So, we saw that what the apostles in Jerusalem were doing here was they were inviting Paul and Barnabas into their inner circle. Yes, they were associating themselves with Paul and Barnabas and considering them their friends and co-laborers in the gospel. Therefore, this word “fellowship” refers to “closeness and intimacy.” Therefore, we saw that just as we would be supremely blessed if we were to be invited into fellowship with someone on this earth that we highly respect and look up to, we should go around glowing all the days of our life because GOD has invited us into fellowship with Himself through the Person of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
    
Finally, we looked at how we enter into this “fellowship” with the Holy Spirit; and we saw that we do so by first understanding in our hearts that being invited into fellowship with the Spirit is far more valuable than our fellowship with any other man or woman. And then we saw that once we esteem our opportunity to commune with Him like so, then we simply begin a “monologue” with Him—that is, we begin talking to Him, saying things like, “Good morning, Holy Spirit … Thank You for being a part of my life today … I’m so grateful that you are going to work with me today to lead, guide and teach me … I love You … I value all of the help you give me … etc. etc. etc.” And then as you and I begin talking to Him like this, you open the door to begin a “dialogue” with Him. In other words, the more He hears your voice, the better you will hear His voice.
 
But we wound up our first teaching by seeing that He is a perfect gentleman and does not force Himself into our lives. In fact, this idea is where the old King James translation of “Holy Ghost” came from. In their day, a ghost was not something spooky or scary; a ghost was just another way of describing a “guest.” So, we could call Him in the “Holy Guest”—meaning, He is abiding with us as Jesus promised, but He will only do what we invite Him to do. And this is why the Holy Spirit is not to be feared. He is not going to force Himself on us. He will only perform in us what we invite Him to perform. Let’s invite Him today! Amen.
 
WHAT IS COMMUNION?
 
Now last week, we looked at this English word “communion” to see if we can find some more clues to what Paul was praying for this church and what the Lord desires for us as well.
 
Now when you hear this word “communion,” what is the first thing you think of? I would suppose that the first thing most people would think of when they heard this word would be the Lord’s Supper. Yes, when most of us hear “communion” used they likely think of crackers and grape juice or bread and wine. 
                                                                                               
So, what is communion? It is an act where we remember the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave His life as a ransom for whoever believes, and through His shed blood and broken body, we have been redeemed, healed, and saved. Glory to God!
 
Now the elements in themselves are not the issue. It is not about the bread and wine; it is about the body and blood of the Lord Jesus. No, it is not about the ritual or the method; it is about love and honor. It is a simple act of obedience to both solemnly remember His passion and to joyfully celebrate His and our victory. Amen! Yes, communion celebrates the Gospel of our salvation: Jesus was broken for us so that we can be fixed by Him. He suffered so we don’t have to. He became our sin and sickness so that we can become His righteousness and peace.
 
Therefore, communion is when either any one of us chooses to remember what He did for us in our own home by ourselves, or when we all assemble together to fellowship (like today) and remember Jesus Christ's sacrifice together. This is something that we are privileged to do as much as we would like.
 
But there is a reason that this word “communion” is the word used to describe this holy and sacred service. Yes, one possible meaning is that when we partake together as a “fellowship” of believers, we are participating together as a body in remembering what Christ has done for us. But I believe another wonderful benefit of “communion” is how we are called to remember our “fellowship” with Christ in His body.   
 
You see, the word “communion” comes from two words—the prefix “com” and the word “union.” Now the word “com” means “with, together, or in association with.” So, in other words, “com” denotes bringing two or more people, things, etc. “together.” This is clear when you look at words such as “combine” or “compare.” What these words mean by having the prefix “com” is “to bring together a couple of things” (i.e. combine) and “to set two or more things side by side and differentiate” (i.e. compare). But then notice that the other word used in “communion” is the word “union,” which obviously describes a “uniting or joining together.” Therefore, the English word “communion” literally means “to unite two or more things or people together.” In fact, when you look up some synonyms for this word “communion” you will find words like “intimacy, closeness, and togetherness.”
 
So, this is gives us another way of looking at The Lord’s Supper, doesn’t it? “Communion” is not just us coming together and remembering His sacrifice together; “Communion” is us remembering and identifying with the fact that we are united together with Him. You see, this is why we physically partake of these elements! It is because when we partake of His body and His blood, in our hearts, we are remembering our union together with Him and identifying together with everything He has accomplished for us. And the way we are uniting with Him is by symbolically having Him enter us.
 
Now then, I think we can now see a little deeper what is meant by the phrase— “the communion of the Holy Spirit.” Like the Lord’s Supper, the “communion” of the Holy Spirit is us uniting together with Him—coming into fellowship with Him and finding our friendship with Him—as He has entered our temples. Therefore, we have literally partaken of Him, and He now lives on the inside of us that we may feed on the myriad of benefits that He has to offer! Yes, the communion of the Holy Spirit is us remembering that He is with us and all that He is willing to perform in our lives. Hallelujah! 
 
So, when it comes to Paul’s prayer for the Church of Corinth that “the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all,” we could translate that phrase— “and the union and intimacy of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 
 
WE HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON
 
Now let’s look again at this word “communion” in its original language because there are several other ways in which it is described:
 
Again, as we have seen this word “communion”—the Greek word koinonia—literally means “fellowship,” fellowship being the most common translation of it. And it is interesting that I use the word “common” there because the root word for koinonia is koinos which literally means just that— “common.” In fact, koinos is the word that was used in the Book of Acts to describe the community and fellowship that the young church in Jerusalem experienced when they sold all of their possessions and lived in a communal type fellowship. The passage I am referring to is Acts 4:32, which says, “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” And, you see, it is of no coincidence that this great grace that came upon the Early Church to walk in this self-sacrificing level of community with one another was prefaced with the Holy Spirit filling them afresh and anew after they gathered together and prayed in one accord (see Acts 4:23-31). The reason I say this is because when one is filled with the Holy Spirit, they will imitate the nature of the Holy Spirit—which in the case we are talking about is “communion” (i.e. fellowship and having things in common).
 
You see, the Holy Spirit will always lead you into fellowship—both with Christ and with Christ’s body. I say this because how many people in the Body of Christ have said, “Well, I just don’t feel led to go to church today. I just believe the Holy Spirit is leading me to be by myself.” Church, those things we hear Christians say that lean more towards isolation rather than fellowship are usually not the Lord’s leading. They are being “led” alright, but it ain’t the Holy Ghost!   
 
Now don’t get me wrong—this is not to say that the Holy Spirit will not ever lead you and I to get alone with Him or to withdraw ourselves for short periods of time. Jesus did this, withdrawing from the crowds and getting away and alone with His Father. But what I am referring to are those who say the Holy Ghost has led them away from the fellowship of the Body of Christ for prolonged periods of time and even permanently. Friends, that is not the Holy Spirit leading them. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is not going to contradict the very Word of God which He inspired that strictly warns us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (see Hebrews 10:25). That would be, as Jesus said, a house divided against itself that cannot stand. Well, we know the Holy Spirit most certainly is standing strong, and there are no contradictions in Him! Amen? Therefore, He is not “leading” these people to forsake fellowship with the Body of Christ. They are being led by either their flesh or soul, not by their spirit.
 
But my point is that at the very root of the word for “communion” is the word “common.” So, when we look at the word “communion” we should see it as “having something in common with someone or having a common goal.” Praise God, that is what it means to have fellowship with the Spirit of God.
 
THE ACTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
 
Now do you know who truly walked in this kind of fellowship with the Holy Spirit? The First Century church did! They not only had all things in common with one another, but they walked in this communion with the Holy Spirit—that is, they had such a relationship with and reverence for Him that few have in the church today. And through understanding this, compare the results of the early church with the results of the church today. It would be an understatement to say that they had more of an impact on their world then than we are having on ours today. Amen? 
 
So, what is the difference? Why was their known world being “turned upside down” (or, more accurately, “right side up”) and ours is (at best) staying relatively the same? I believe the main reason is because of the church’s lack of respect for the ministry of the Holy Spirit today.
 
Throughout the one major historical book that chronicles the beginning of the church age—the Book of Acts—we can clearly see the fellowship of the Holy Spirit at work in the Body of Christ. Yes, by studying the Book of Acts, we can see how important the Holy Spirit was to the early church. 
 
Now, in my opinion, the Book of Acts has been incorrectly titled in many of our Bibles: If you look in the beginning of the Book, most of our Bibles call it—the Acts of the Apostles. But that is not all it consists of. For example, you don’t just see Peter, John, Paul, etc. healing people and being used by God in various ways. No, you have evangelists doing mighty acts. You even have folk’s daughters prophesying. For example, consider Stephen, who was simply a deacon in the church, but because he was “full of the Holy Spirit” (among other things), he did great signs and wonders. He was not considered an apostle, yet the Holy Spirit worked through him in a mighty way. So, the bottom line is that there were more than just apostles being used by God in the Book chronicling the history of the Early Church. We see all kinds of people in the Early Church performing these “Acts.” So, I think a better title would be— “The Acts of Jesus’ Church.” However, as we are about to see, perhaps an even more accurate title would be this— “The Acts of the Holy Ghost through His Church.”
 
Yes, if you take a close look at the Book of Acts you will find that the early church had great respect for the ministry of the Holy Spirit and walked in close communion with Him. In these various passages that we will wind up looking at over the next few weeks, Luke makes mention of the Holy Spirit like He is another member of the church. These verses also show us how He bore witness to certain things almost like He was physically in their midst. Luke paints the picture of the Holy Spirit being someone who played a key role in the church (imagine that). So, it is rather clear that they were in tune with Him and heavily relied on His direction and guidance. And why were they so close to and dependent upon Him? It was because He was pretty much all they had:
 
THE SPIRIT AND THE WORD AGREE
 
You see, they did not have their own personal copies of the Bible then. In fact, the New Testament, for the most part, had not even been written yet. The only “Word” they heard from time to time was from the public reading of the law and the prophets, known to us as the Old Testament. Certainly, they made the most of the Word of God that they had as evidenced by the Old Testament Scriptures that were quoted from in the Book of Acts, but they did not have nearly the privileges we have today of having the complete Word of God in almost every home. No, they had to rely heavily on the Holy Spirit to speak to them and lead them in the way they should go every day.
 
You know, the church today predominantly prides itself on the Word of God: Some (definitely not all, but some) see the Word as the all-inclusive solution to the world’s problems, and as important as the Word of God is, it is only half of the answer to a relatively ineffective and slumbering church. The Holy Spirit is that missing ingredient!
 
Please understand me, I am not trying to lower our estimation and perception of God’s Holy Word. I am just attempting to raise our estimation and perception of God’s Holy Spirit! No, we do not need to honor the Word less, but simply need to honor the Spirit more because they both work together for the edification of the church and are of equal importance. Therefore, we must lift the fellowship of God’s Spirit to the same level that we have placed on the written Word.
 
I would liken their equal and dual importance to that of a child needing both of their parents—their mother and father. While I do understand that God can supernaturally fill any void in our lives to where we will not suffer any disadvantages if we did not have both our parents involved in our life, the natural law that God put into motion is that a child needs both a father-figure and a mother-figure in order to be completely nurtured and correctly raised. If God is taken out of the picture, the child who only has one (or, no) parent figures in his or her life will have an uphill road to climb.
 
This is how I see the importance of both the Word and the Spirit in the life of a child of God: When one of them is absent, we are at a disadvantage, but if both of them are active in our lives, then we are more likely to become a mature and complete child of God.
 
This is why the Holy Spirit Himself is so vitally important to the Christian’s life: Without Him we are doing everything on our own. We are limited to being guided by our own finite understanding. We are limited to being doers of God’s Word through our own strength. We are limited to praying according to our inferior understanding. And the list could go on and on. The bottom line is that we are up the creek without a paddle without the help of the Holy Spirit.
 
So, if our Christian walk is doomed without the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives then how glorious do you think our lives would be if we walked in a deeper and a more intimate relationship with Him? How much richer would our Christian walks be if we learned to take more advantage of His ministry unto us? You see, apart from Him we can do nothing, but through Him we can do all things! The communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all, indeed!
 
So, let’s begin this week going through the Book of Acts and look at many examples that we have of the Spirit’s ACTivity in the First Century Church:
 
HOW JESUS ACTED
 
But I want you to notice that the first thing we will find is that Jesus likewise lived in this union with the Holy Spirit. Notice that at the beginning of Acts, Dr. Luke says— “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:1-3).     
 
So, we see here that after Jesus’ resurrection, Dr. Luke explains how Jesus “through the Holy Spirit” ministered the truths of God’s kingdom to His disciples. And this often-overlooked phrase provides an important point for us to understand:
 
You see, many in the church today incorrectly assume that Jesus did the miraculous things that He did because He was the Son of God, but that’s simply not true. In fact, we are told by the Lord Himself that the Son can do nothing of Himself—for He only did what He saw the Father doing. This was His own confession throughout His ministry.
 
In fact, you never see Jesus doing one miracle in the Bible until after the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove at His baptism. This is when, as the Bible says, He, being filled with the Holy Spirit was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Luke 4:1). And then, after successfully resisting the devil’s temptations for 40 days, Luke 4:14 says that He returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit.”
 
You see, these things all point towards the fact that Jesus did the miraculous things He did, not because He was the Son of God, but because of His union with the Spirit of God.
 
Let me show you one instance in Jesus’ ministry where Jesus validates this: In Matthew 12:22-32, we have the account of Jesus healing the demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. And in this event, Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of casting out this demon(s) by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons.
 
Now the obvious point that Jesus was making here was that it was completely irrational for them to accuse Him of using the “ruler of demons” to cast out demons because that would be Satan pitting his kingdom against itself. Well, how many of God’s people say basically the same thing about Him today? They say that God is putting a sickness & disease on one of His children to teach them something, to perfect them or to discipline them. Well, since God has clearly revealed Himself in the Word as our healer and Jesus went about healing everyone who came to Him in faith, would it make sense for Him to be healing in one moment and then to put sickness on someone in another? Not at all! No, this would be as Jesus described it, a kingdom or house divided against itself. Another example is when Jesus stilled the storm. How many people equate all of these natural disasters to being “acts of God?” Well, Jesus stilled the storm—proving to us that not all storms or acts of nature are of God because Jesus would have been acting against His Father there and they would have been a divided kingdom.       
 
But the point I want you to see today is that in verse 28, Jesus said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” So, what we can clearly see here is that Jesus just told us how He had the power to cast out demons: It was not because He was the Son of God, but because He had the Spirit of God.
 
Then notice at the end of verse 28, Jesus went on to say, “surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Again, when demons are expelled and driven out, this is a manifestation of the kingdom of God. You could say it this way—the kingdom of God is ruling when evil spirits are no longer controlling and ruling a person or place and the Holy Spirit is. Amen!
 
And in verse 31 Jesus reiterates this point that it was the Holy Spirit who was the supernatural power that was doing the “exorcising,” not Jesus, because he went on to address the “blasphemy against the Spirit.”
 
You see, notice that Jesus said here that people accusing Him of casting out demons by Beelzebub was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. What this shows us is that Jesus equated His ability to cast out demons to the Holy Spirit working through Him. Therefore, if the Holy Spirit was the agent by which Jesus cast out devils, then He did not do it simply because He was the Son of God. Amen! 
 
HE IS A DIVINE PERSON
 
Then notice what Dr. Luke was inspired to go on to say in Acts chapter 1—that as they were assembled together the Lord commanded them to not depart from Jerusalem but to stay there and wait for the Promise of the Father, “which…you have heard from Me.” (see Acts 1:4)
 
Now the Lord did not just go about doing things through the power of the Holy Spirit and not tell His disciples about Him. No, He absolutely taught His disciples about the person of the Holy Spirit throughout His ministry. Notice here how Jesus went on to say, “…you have heard from Me.”
 
Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit A LOT! As we’ve seen already, He talked about the Holy Spirit in regard to Him being the power by which He performed His miracles. He talked to Nicodemus about how the Holy Spirit is the agent by which one is born again (see John 3:6-8). But the most concentrated teaching on the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ ministry was on the eve of His Crucifixion. And that leads me to my next point:
 
Notice that Jesus is quoted here in Acts 1:4 as saying, “which…you have heard from Me.” Now the word “which” here—the Greek word “hos”— can and has been translated several ways. It can be translated “which, whom, that, what, whose, who, etc.” And it is my opinion, that a better translation here would be “who or whom,” and I’ll tell you why: It is because if you look at John chapters 14-16, where Jesus taught much on the Holy Spirit, you will notice that not one time does He refer to Him with the word “which”; He refers to Him as “whom.”   
                                            
You see, as you have heard me say already, the Holy Spirit is one of the most disrespected people that has ever been on the earth. I refer to Him as a person because this is one of the main areas where people tend to disrespect Him the most.
 
You see, many in the church today do not see Him this way. So many see Him as an “it” rather than as a real person. We sing songs that, although they have catchy beats and appeal to our emotions, disrespect the Holy Spirit by referring to Him as something rather than somebody.
 
Let me explain it this way: Say, during the time that I receive new members to our church, I pointed one of them out and said, “I am so glad it has decided to join our church today. Let’s give it a big hand.” We just might not retain that new member, wouldn’t you think? And why? Because they are a person and not an “it!” They are people and not a thing. Well, how do you think the Holy Spirit feels? Now, of course, He wouldn’t have the same reaction as we would, being perfect love and all, but I’m sure it grieves Him for us to have such a misunderstanding and unfamiliarity with Him. But this is exactly what the majority of the church does today.
 
No, the Holy Spirit is not a goose bump! Nor is He a cloud, a vapor, or a feeling! Yet if you asked certain believers who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, this is exactly how they see Him. They relate to Him through these physical manifestations that He gives us—such as the goose bumps they sense, the cloud of glory they see, or the emotions they feel. But the truth is this: He is a person with a personality and emotions. The Holy Spirit is as much of a divine person as God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ because He is, in fact, the Third Person of the Godhead.   
 
But in order to have communion with the Holy Spirit we must understand one very important thing: We must understand that He is not an “it!” He is a divine person! He is not a vapor! He is not a goose bump! He is not a feeling! He is as much a divine person as God the Father and Jesus Christ! There is a lack of respect, due to a lack of understanding, in so many Pentecostal circles of the personality of the Holy Spirit. So many only relate to Him through His physical manifestations, such as the goose bumps they feel, the cloud of glory they can see, or the emotions they experience. But in order for us to experience “the communion of the Holy Spirit” we must see Him as a person and not as a phantom. The reason is, you cannot fellowship with a feeling; you can only fellowship with a person. The Holy Spirit has a personality that we can learn and become familiar with.
 
Let’s see how Jesus referred to Him in the Gospel of John:
 
14:16-17
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
 
14:26
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
 
15:26
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
 
16:7-8
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”
 
16:13-15
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for He will take of what is mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”  
 
(You see, some of you are already tired of hearing all of these personal pronouns being emphasized, but how do you think He feels when the majority of what He’s heard for the past 2,000 years is “it, it, it”?)
 
Notice that in these nine verses we just read, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit with a personal pronoun 22 times! Now when something is repeated in the Word of God so many times like this it is because it is an important principle for us to understand. And Jesus is making the point that the Helper who is about to take His place is a person.
 
Dr. R.A. Torrey once said, “If the Holy Spirit is a divine person and we know it not, we are robbing a divine Being of the love and adoration which are due Him. It is of the highest practical importance whether the Holy Spirit is a power that we, in our ignorance and weakness, are somehow to get hold of and use, or whether the Holy Spirit is a personal Being who is to get hold of us and use us...”
  
CONCLUSION
 
Church, it is time for us to recognize the latter—that He is indeed a Person who stands at the door of our hearts and knocks, desiring to use us.
 
So, we can clearly see that Jesus did the mighty “Acts” that he did, not because He was the Son of God, but because of His union with the Spirit of God. And we can also see that the Early Church did the mighty “Acts” that they did, not because they were “apostles,” but because of their union with the Holy Spirit. So, if both the Son of God and His disciples did all that they did through the communion of the Holy Spirit, then how on God’s green earth could we ever dream that we are going to be able to do anything apart from the Holy Spirit? The truth is—we can’t.
 
However, when we decide to invite Him into all of the rooms of our life and give this perfect Gentleman full access, it is then that we, like both the Head of the Church and Early Church itself, will turn our world “right-side up.” Amen!