The Holy Spirit Presented to the New Millennium.: The March of the Personality and Works of the Holy Spirit for New Millennium.

Dedication

To my wonderful family.

Naya, Brian, and Paula, as well as my mother.

My father, Chief Samuel Usifo, elder brother Paul Usifo, John Ighodaro, Stella Ighodaro, and dear friends Samuel Uhumwango and Ehigiator Osas, all gone to glory.

Uwubamwen Nosa, Idee Charles, Sunday, Natalia, Kathryn, Valentina, Dennis, Osaro, Gabriel Ighodaro, Austin Orumwense, and Grace, my dear sister, as well as my sisters. With the greatest love.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Table of Contents

Foreword

Prologue

Chapter One

The Holy Spirit, the Finger of God.

Unveiling The Holy Spirit, the Finger of God.

The Person of the Holy Spirit for all Generation.

In Defense of the Personality of the Holy Spirit.

Chapter Two

The Old Testament Concealed the Finger of God.

The New Testament Reveals the Holy Spirit.

Doctrinal Crisis

Chapter Three

The Spirit of God has a Name.

The Symbols of the Holy Spirit

The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Christian Life.

Chapter Four

The Spiritual Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Unbelievers and Spiritual Gifts.

The Believers and Spiritual Gifts.

In Defense of Spiritual Gifts

Chapter Five

The Spiritual Gifts Displayed in the Life of Believers.

The Unbelievers Under Spiritual Gifts.

Experiencing Spiritual Gifts

Spiritual Gifts and Fruits

Chapter Six

In the Days of the Spirit

First Day in the New Era.

The New Era’s New Creation.

My Story

Gratitude

About the Author

Other books by this author

Bibliography

Connect with Patrick Usifo

Foreword

For some reason, I am overjoyed to offer the opening words to this outstanding work, which, in my judgment, exhibits a commendable level of biblical clarity and notable theological honesty. First and foremost, the author's approach to exegeting the personhood of the Holy Spirit using the proper biblical and systematic theological interpretation of the text left me quite impressed. Last but not least, his works display maturity, simplicity, and inspiring faith vital to the preservation of the core beliefs of the Church.

He currently writes for several Christian publications working to increase both the spiritual awareness of the church and the general public. Besides, he has authored several books relevant to the spiritual development of newly born and spiritually sound believers within the fold of charismatic and conservative evangelicals, as well as those with no religious inclination.

Perceptively, this book serves as a powerful incentive to assist the church in moving forward with a progressive balanced, timely, thorough, careful, and biblical exegesis of the person and the presence of the Holy Spirit. In a bid to supply the needs of the believers with a substantial pure milk of the Word, 1 Peter 2:2, without dogmas.

The contents depict the compelling character of the Holy Spirit as a fascinating personality, distinct from a doctrine, a genuine person rather than a ghost, and an individual rather than an emanation in one of the most perilous eras of the church age. The book awakens the body of Christ to embrace the person and the assignment of the Spirit of God for our age.

As a consequence, every page of this book can be considered a kaleidoscopic window looking toward the indisputable personality of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I cordially invite you to a very fascinating, and inspiring book that has not only transformed and inspired my spiritual life but has also awakened my spirit to reality.

Indeed, as Patrick put it, The time has arrived to disclose to the world the mighty and unchallengeable person and presence of the Holy Spirit, the Finger of God, the Spirit of God among us and in our pulpit. In the name of Jesus Christ, let the promise of the Spirit's power, fullness, and Christ-glorifying presence be with you forever.

Panagiotis Alexandros, Pastor

The Apostolic Evangelical Church of Athens,

Athens Greece.

Prologue

Ended up a few years after my conversion having a serious doctrinal problem reconciling my knowledge of the Holy Spirit with reality. In the process, I was confronted with many difficult questions about the character and personality of the Holy Spirit. At that time, I concluded that the Holy Spirit was some kind of power like electricity or magnetic forces, that often descended on the believer in dramatic ways as happened in the Acts of Apostles, Acts 1:8.

During this period, I couldn't integrate and connect the dots of His personhood with His fiery power and several images in the Old and New Testaments. Simply said, I could not reconcile His appearance as a split tongue of fire with the assurance of a real personality. So, the more I tried to comprehend the significance of His fiery appearance to resolve the reality of His inviolate person, the more I found myself held up in several areas of my understanding. I was unable to adequately connect His appearance to His personality and character.

The more I thought about it, the more I concluded that His characteristics and God's characteristics were compatible. Though I was trapped in the spirals of my spiritual journey that lasted for a considerable time, finally I understood, thanks to the inspiration of the Divine Teacher of Truth, that the Spirit of God is a person far superior to every church doctrine.

Therefore, I believe I could make a strong case concerning the truth of the individuality and rationality of the Spirit of God. For this cause, I desire to write in the format of a fresh, new, vibrant, and inspiring discourse on the old subject of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the Finger of God in line with the framework of the original gospel of grace. This work would be very valuable to our Christian communities seeking a new work on an old subject of the Christian doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the Finger of God.

Furthermore, this is my contribution to the reliable Christian exegesis using the power of sound hermeneutics to acquaint believers with the ever-present and unquestionable uniqueness and identity of the person of the Holy Spirit. More specifically, I want to use the truth of the Spirit of Truth, the Finger of God, as it is revealed in the Bible, to help others build an experienced knowledge of the Holy Spirit.

I intended the materials in this book to be a reasonable and workable historical and theological sourcebook on the personality, influences, and workings of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Finger of God. It is done to bring back to life the old, hard truth of the scriptures through a re-thinking of the existing doctrines handed down to the church for the new era.

For this reason, the book emphasizes the truth of God's grace, the Holy Spirit as the most essential figure in the cosmos. By restating the old truth of the Holy Spirit, I hope to encourage and deepen your relational awareness of the person of the Godhead. I expect it will bring God's glory to your mind, making your heart spring with excitement because a life spent with God is an eternal joy.

In conclusion, I pray that our heavenly Father will utilize the book to strengthen the spiritual discernment of believers throughout the world. In consequence, may it help you develop in faith, achieving the full stature of Christ. I pray the Holy Spirit will open your spiritual eyes to see Him as He is in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Patrick Usifo,

El Shaddai and Global Prayer & Intercessory Ministries,

Alimos, Athens, Greece

Chapter One

The Holy Spirit, the Finger of God.

The Holy Spirit by whose power the prophets have prophesied and the fathers have been instructed concerning God, and the righteous have been led in the way of righteousness, and who at the end of time has been shed in a new way upon mankind, throughout the earth, renewing man for God, Saint Irenaeus, Epideixis 6.

Whenever I contemplate the trajectory of my Christian life, the mirror has always reflected the image of the trying times I spent poring over the Bible in pursuit of the assurances and comforts of what I had believed. In a bid to uncover the trustworthy source of spiritual truth, my search carried me through the valleys and shadows of faith. I vividly recalled those times when I was wrestling with absorbing, professing, and trying to comprehend what the Bible had revealed about the person of the Holy Spirit.

I remembered the moments my faith almost tanked out of exasperation. At that time, I almost threw in the towel at a stage in my study of doctrines. It was at the point when I didn't know what to believe anymore. At that time, I contemplated the outright rejection of the various things I heard concerning the characteristics and attributes of the Spirit. Including the fact that my understanding of God's spiritual things was infantile at that moment. It reflected the magnitude of my ignorance, the measure of my faith, and my growth in grace.

Further, I proceeded, knowing that I would never know all about the Holy Spirit on this side of heaven. But that did not stop me as I had endeavored to learn enough historical and theological truth about Him to strengthen my faith. But things began to change a few years after I had the opportunity to attend a strategic Bible class hosted by a biblical-believing church in Athens, Greece.

The main message of the seminar centered on the inviolate person of the Holy Spirit. The class was taught by a close friend, pastor, and teacher, Bill Bailey, who was well-known for his sincerity and purity in teaching biblical truth to South European Christian groups. The brother began his address by reminding the audience of the significance of thoroughly evaluating every biblical instruction, both oral and written (1 John 4:1–4).

He also emphasized the importance of believers contending for the truth of the Bible by ensuring that every teaching of the scriptures passes through the filter of God's unchangeable word (Jude 3). Furthermore, he stressed the position of the word of God in contemporary Christian spirituality.

For example, he mentioned according to 2 Corinthians 2:17, the disastrous results of introducing erroneous teachings into the clean stream of God's word. He warned believers to be wary of the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit on many issues concerning our daily lives. The very exhortation fueled my determination to construct a standard, scriptural, balanced, and uncolored doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

Thus, the brother concluded with these words, Every teaching about the person of the Holy Spirit should be assessed on its merit, whether it fulfills the balanced and scriptural credibility test, Isaiah 8:20 because the Bible is the sole source of authority for our beliefs. While insisting the Holy Spirit does not depart from the clear truth of the Bible when condemning, correcting, and urging all men in the faith (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Throughout the years, I have adopted those persuasive words of exhortation as a rule of historical faith in my quest to widen the scope of my theological convictions. They have helped me create a balanced and realistic belief system, which has revolutionized my spiritual perspective.

Now I have come to realize why most teaching about the person of the Holy Spirit based on sources outside the Bible can quickly become one's personal opinion, supposition, speculation, conjectures, and church traditions.

For this simple reason, I strongly urge my readers to put aside every questionable doctrinal statement as someone else's personal opinion and the supposition that could have a far-reaching implication for their spiritual progress, 1 Peter 4:11, Isaiah 8:20. As a result, they should accept the Bible as the only trusted source indispensable for all matters of faith. Including the fact, that it doubles as the foundation and basis for every word contained in this book.

However, it is incredible after two thousand years that many believers are still living on the wrong side of Pentecost before Christ came instead of engaging the person of the Holy Spirit poured forth to all nations. In the same breath, some are still living in the past tense of the faith as people who have never heard of the Holy Spirit, just as Apollo and the saints in Corinth had confessed before Apostle Paul, Acts 19:1-2.

Therefore, this book is written for you in answer to the question Who is the Holy Spirit and what does the Holy Spirit do? For this cause, I have used both theological and historical texts drawn from the scriptures to show you the truth of the Holy Spirit. Even the Holy Spirit has no equivalent in any other world religion. He has no known physical features, but He has many imageries like a Dove, rushing Wind, the tongue of Fire, and Living Water. Hence, this book will help you understand the truth of the Spirit of God since He is the Divine Teacher sent to us.

Nonetheless, the knowledge of the Spirit is so important because of who He is and what He does since He plays a great role in the life of the believer, the church, and the world. Without His presence, churches would not exist. Without Him, all ministration would be pointless and incomplete. He gives life to all of God's visible and invisible domains. His activities transcend time and all understanding.

Furthermore, the Spirit is so humble that He does not seek His glory as Abraham Kuyper remarked, He leaves no footprints in the sand. Also, the Holy Spirit, the living Finger of God, the third person of the Trinity, does not speak of Himself, but of Christ. He is one whose majesty cannot be adequately described in a thousand discourses.

Even so, the entire canon of the Bible reveals volumes about Him with numerous diverse names and titles. Despite that, He remains unnoticed, unrecognized, and unheard of by devotees of other religious faiths. But His presence pervades the entire text of Scripture with various names capitalized like a piece of marble engraved with a diamond pen difficult to overlook.

He existed before the beginning of time and would be there after the end of time. 1 John 5:7-8 describes him as one of the faithful witnesses whose testimony is uncontradicted and verified forever in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, as a Divine Person, He is separate from the Father and Son while remaining a vital member of the