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| Earl Gillespie |
What Is The Spirit Of God
Part 1 of 3
–And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2)
The old Baptist church at the
edge of the clearing was where most members of the community assemble on Sunday
to hear the Word of the Lord. Located
across the road from the graveyard gave it the eerie feeling that the spirit
world was active in and around the church.
First, there was Sunday School, where the stories of the ancient
prophets and their message was told and retold.
Next on the agenda was Prayer and Worship Service, the name was later
changed to Praise Service, then we were
ready to receive the Word. Everyone
would sit attentively, even the younger children were trying not to go to sleep as the preacher droned
on and on. Everyone was waiting for that
glorious moment when the preacher would begin to ‘tone up and moan’.
There were certain ladies in
the congregation that knew when to shout back at the preacher, urging him
on. The ‘amen corner’ was where the Holy Spirit seems
to reside and the pastor was often said to be preaching to the ‘amen corner’. When
the desired emotional response was not forthcoming, the pastor was often
accused of , ‘going in the graveyard and digging someone up’. The phrase, “I got a mother gone on”, would
bring the church to tears. When a
certain level of emotional tension was reached, some of the ladies would scream,
arms flaying and jumping around in their seats, only to be restrained by the ushers. Some of the men would begin to cry and make
strange noise. One Sunday on the way home from church I asked my mother what
was going on, she said, “that was the way people acted when the spirit of God hit
them”.
That conversation left me with
a desire to experience the Spirit of God.
That desire was like saying I believe in ghost, wanting to see one so I
would know, but afraid of how I would react when I came face to face with a
ghost. Needing to know what to expect
when the Spirit of God hit you, I asked
my aunt who was the most experience person I knew when it came to being ‘hit’
by the Spirit. Her answer was, “when
the Spirit hits you, you will know it”.
That did not satisfy my quest for the knowledge of the Spirit of
God. Because of my inquisitive nature
concerning the Spirit of God, my mother tried to satisfy my quest for knowledge
by telling me that I would understand it when I was old enough to get religion.
At the age of eight I convince my mother that
I was old enough to get religion. During
the Fall revival that year, I made my way to the front bench in the church that
was known as the Mourners Bench. Friends
and family would sing and pray for you, and the pastor explained the process of
getting religion. He said, If you
believed, the Spirit would hit you, and you were supposed to get up and give
the preacher your hand.
It was common knowledge to most that after a
week of praying and preaching, no one was supposed to be left on the mourners
bench. Those that were left were considered to be
less than heathens. The night before the close of the revival I grew
weary of waiting, the question was simple, “Do you believe in God”, yes, I
believe, so I walked up to the preacher and gave him my hand. I realized too late that I had allowed myself
to be drawn into a situation where I no longer could ask what is the Spirit of
God, because if I had good religion, I knew what the Spirit of God was and I
knew what it felt like.
Years later, I attended what was called a Holy
Spirit or Holy Ghost filled revival. The
preacher would, ‘tone and moan’ and the congregation would leap to their feet
and dance. Those were the days when the Holy Spirit became the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost was a strange phenomenal, it
made you jump up and down, fall out on the floor, roll, kick and foam at the
mouth, it even made you talk funny. There were no ushers to restrain you, and you
were supposed to dance and shout for joy.
These physical expressions were a clear indicator that you was filled
with the Holy Ghost. Those that were
standing on the sideline believing and praying were often left wondering why
their reaction to the Holy Spirit wasn’t as physical and profound as the next
person.
“What does the Holy Ghost feel like?” It seems somewhat strange that the scripture never mentions this. The Holy Scripture speaks a good deal about what the Spirit inspires people to do, such as prophesying or preaching, but the spotlight always falls on the Spirit-inspired action and not of the Spirit Himself. Thus, when the preacher said, it makes you want to dance, the Church said, “Amen”, and praise dancing became in vogue.
Ask any Holy Ghost inspired preacher or teacher and you will be told that the Holy Ghost feels like, “… fire shut up in my bones...”, quoting from Jeremiah 20:9. That seems to be quite a bit of embellishment because the prophet was not speaking of the Holy Spirit. He was speaking of his reluctance to deliver the word of God because of the hardship he had to endure. Embellishment or scriptures out of context has become a common occurrence when interpreting the scripture.
Growing up in the 50’s my grandfather would tell stories of seeing ghosts. If he said he saw a ghost, we believed him, but today we look back with a wink and wonder, if it was just his imagination. Not to say that ghost or spirits don’t exist, but when the description was left to a fertile imagination, sometimes the storyteller got very creative. I can’t help but wonder if the same holds true for the Spirit of God.
There are many passages in the Bible that include the words “… and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him/her/them…”. However, this quotation is never followed by anything like “… and the people said, ‘whoa, what was THAT?’” When the spirit speaks we are supposed to recognize the message as coming from God. So there must be a special feeling about the Holy Spirit that feels like the truth. This statement is true, but it is not definitive, because if the consciousness is seared then a lie will seem like the truth. There are many that claim to be a Holy Ghost filled person that are guilty of flat out lying and there are those who profess to be filled with the Holy Ghost, believe those lies.
As I grew older I began to wonder why or if there were many different Holy Spirits. Each denomination had its own guidelines as pertaining to the operation of the Holy Spirit, yet this could not be if we are all working toward the same goal. Jesus said, Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come, (John 16:13).
Let's take a look at the definition of spirit as provided by Wikipedia Encyclopedia. The English word spirit (from Latin Spiritus "breath") has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body. The word spirit is often used metaphysically to refer to the consciousness or personality. The notions of a person's spirit and soul often also overlap, as both contrast with the body and both are understood as surviving the bodily death in religion and occultism, and "spirit" can also have the sense of "ghost", i.e. a manifestation of the spirit of a deceased person.
The term may also refer to any incorporeal or immaterial being, such as demons or deities. In Christianity "the Spirit" (with a capital "S") specifically denotes the Holy Spirit. So the question remains, and I think the question is answerable within the scripture and from seasoned believers. Spirit is described in various parts of scripture as fire, power, faith, peace, joy, fullness, or holiness (the seal of God’s promise in and on us). All these things come from God and when the Spirit makes His presence known we usually feel at least some of these things in some way or another. Even the least of us can relate to the feeling of joy, peace and fullness, the feeling of fire and power speak for themselves.
The Spirit of God
Part 2
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