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As I was pondering some ministry work I had just completed, and some study materials I had written in earlier years, my thoughts turned to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and the nature of the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. This is a subject which I likewise discuss and examine in articles and series such as "A Treasure in Earthen Vessels: God's Promise of the Spirit", "Are You Saved and Sealed and Healed and Filled?", and "Roman Catholicism, Water Baptism and the Holy Trinity".

I have mentioned on more than one occasion that the Bible is like God's great jigsaw puzzle. It is likewise similar to a magnificent pattern that has been woven into a fabric. The more time we devote to carefully studying God's Word, the more the pieces of the puzzle, or the many colored threads of the pattern, begin to come together and form the complete picture. As we examine each piece of the puzzle, and each thread in the tapestry, and determine where it should go, our understanding slowly becomes clearer and clearer. It requires a lot of work in order to complete such a project, but the rewards are very satisfying. As the Prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul write:

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:"


"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."


As I explain in some of the aforementioned articles -- and thus will not go into great detail to explain here so as to not be overly redundant -- based upon my personal study of the Scriptures, I have come to believe that the Holy Spirit is not really the third person in the so-called Holy Trinity. Rather, I have been persuaded by the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit is actually an extension of God the Father Himself. It is His very spiritual essence which flows from His Being. It is some type of force that creates, empowers, anoints, heals, takes authority, controls the elements, comforts, teaches and much more. In my mind, this explanation makes perfect sense, being as the Lord plainly informs us in the Gospel of John that God is a Spirit. Furthermore, Jesus always refers to the Holy Spirit as a "he". Jesus also teaches that His Father is greater than Himself. Finally, Jesus states that to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost is the only unpardonable sin. Consider the following verses as proof of these points:

"GOD IS A SPIRIT: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."


"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that HE may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth HIM not, neither knoweth HIM: but ye know HIM; for HE dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."


"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, HE shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."


"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, HE shall testify of me:"


"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 shew you things to come."


"My Father, which gave them me, is GREATER THAN ALL; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand."


"Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for MY FATHER IS GREATER THAN I."


"Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."


"Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit."


So taken together, the previous verses -- and there are a number of others -- indicate to me that the Holy Spirit -- or Holy Ghost -- is in fact the Father's very essence, and an extension of Himself, which is why it is an unpardonable sin to blaspheme against it/Him. In other words, if one can be forgiven for blaspheming against the Son -- as Jesus says in those verses -- but not be forgiven for blaspheming the Holy Ghost, this suggests to me that the Holy Ghost must be greater than Christ. But if the only one who is greater than Jesus is the Father, then this seems to equate the Holy Ghost with the Father. Therefore, I deduce that the Holy Spirit is an extension of the Father. Now, whether or not you agree with my understanding of these Scriptures, it will not have a major effect on the main point which I wish to share with you in this article, so don't worry about it.

To continue, as I was sitting here at my desk, in a matter of only a few minutes, a number of scenes from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, along with a number of Bible verses, popped into my head. I normally do not talk about this issue too often, because I don't believe that we should. One reason why I hesitate to discuss such things, is because, sadly, in our modern day, it seems that if an individual suggests that they're receiving things from the Lord, too often, other less mature Christians will begin to accuse them of boasting, or of trying to act spiritual, or some other such nonsense. In some cases, it could even be plain old jealousy. Who knows.

But the truth of the matter is that this kind of experience is a regular occurrence in my personal life. Related Bible Scriptures will just start popping into my head one after the other. In certain instances, it is almost as if I am in some kind of altered mental state -- although I am still totally conscious -- and a quiet voice deep within me is teaching me and instructing me. It is as if the radio frequency -- my conscious thinking -- has been tweaked ever so slightly. Whether these events are just my own head, heart or spirit talking to me, or the Holy Spirit, I will leave for you to determine, but that is what happens.

However, based upon what Jesus states in the previous verses regarding how the Comforter will teach us and guide us, I have simply come to accept by faith that it's the Holy Spirit who is instructing me. As Jesus reminds us, He -- meaning the Holy Ghost -- "shall be in you". I am also reminded of the following verses which verify this very same point:

"But we have this treasure [the Spirit] IN EARTHEN VESSELS, [in our flesh] that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."


"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."


"For it is GOD WHICH WORKETH IN YOU both to will and to do of his good pleasure."


"Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by THE HOLY GHOST WHICH DWELLETH IN US."


"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, WORKING IN YOU that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."


"And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and HE IN HIM. And hereby we know that HE ABIDETH IN US, BY THE SPIRIT WHICH HE HATH GIVEN US."


"No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, GOD DWELLETH IN US, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and HE IN US, because HE HATH GIVEN US OF HIS SPIRIT."


Moving on, when these "teaching events" occur, just the way that the verses flow and so easily come together, and agree with each other with really no effort on my part, convinces me even more that it must be Holy Spirit-inspired teaching, and that God is fulfilling His Word, as we read earlier in John chapters fourteen and sixteen, and elsewhere. The Holy Spirit is teaching us "all things", and guiding us into "all truth", as Jesus told us He would do. Some of you who have experienced these same kind of things will know exactly what I am talking about here, and it is so inspiring to be taught by the Lord, via the Holy Spirit.

When these occurrences take place, there is no trying to force verses together, as some people tend to do, and there is no forced interpretation where we try to make the verses say what we want them to say, because we want the Bible to agree with what we want to believe, instead of us agreeing with what the Bible actually says and teaches.

Sadly, this is precisely what a lot of Christians do today, both preachers and lay persons alike. They twist the meaning of the Scriptures so that certain verses seem to agree with whatever happen to be the main doctrines of their church or organization. Because they belong to a particular seminary, church or organization, they are obligated to promote that party line. In other words, for example, a graduate from a Baptist seminary is going to preach Baptist doctrine, and nothing else. A Roman Catholic will only preach doctrines that have the explicit approval of the Vatican. And on and on it goes. It is cookie cutter religion where what one has been taught, is what one teaches, and if one dares to step out of line, prepare to be condemned and ostracized.

The end result is that our faith has become polluted with many man-made false doctrines, and the wayward opinions of men -- and women -- who do not know or understand the first thing concerning Bible prophecy. This has caused a lot of confusion within the Body of Christ, and many people do not know what to believe anymore. Quite frankly, the people who do this are novices when it comes to God's Word, and they have no right trying to teach it whatsoever. Yet they act as if they are seasoned teachers of the same.

Sadly, as you may already know, this kind of deception isn't limited to the churches, Christian seminaries and other such religious organizations. If you regularly participate on any of the social networks, you will undoubtedly know precisely what I am talking about. It seems that the online communities have become inundated with a horde of self-styled, wannabe, false prophets who erroneously say "The Lord told me", "I declare", "Thus saith the Lord", and other false utterances. It is really a tragedy, and it alarms me to see how many of my Christian brethren are being led astray by such people. I have to shake my head when I encounter some of the nonsense that is being espoused and promoted by some of these people. I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul wrote in his second Epistle to Timothy:

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."


Please understand that I am not necessarily saying that all of these wannabe false prophets are downright evil. In fact, they may be God-fearing Christians who are very sincere in their belief that they are hearing from the Lord. However, in my opinion, they are still clearly deceived, and they are deceiving others as well, and by the thousands or millions no less, thanks to the power and global reach of the social networks.

As I explain in some of my other articles such as "The Office of Prophets and Teachers", "Modern False Prophets and Worldly Ecumenism" and more, we need to be extremely careful when it comes to claiming that we are speaking for the Lord, because whether we claim to be a prophet or a teacher, God will hold us accountable for what we say and teach. Teaching God's Word to others is very serious business. It is not something which should be taken lightly by any Christian. If you're knowingly propagating false doctrines which have no basis in the Bible, watch out, because God will surely hold you accountable. As the Apostle James writes:

"My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation."


Please note that while the word "masters" is used in the previous verse, it is actually translated from the Koine Greek word "didaskalos", which is likewise translated as "teachers" in the New Testament of the KJV Bible. Let me interject here that it is indeed true that prophets and teachers are ministries in the Lord's Church. This fact becomes evident by verses such as the following:

"And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?"


"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."


Nevertheless, as I have already made very clear, we need to be extremely careful when it comes to who we choose to listen to and believe, because many false angels of light -- that is to say, deceivers -- are within our midst. Of course, this is not something new. Since the Garden of Eden, Satan has been trying to deceive and confuse God's children with his lies. It was certainly true during the First Century when our faith was first established. Aside from the warnings Jesus himself gave regarding false christs and false prophets, consider the following group of verses which demonstrate how the Apostles constantly warned about false brethren and false doctrines in their midst:

"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."


"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them."


"And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know."


"For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him . . . For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."


"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."


"And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:"


"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;"


"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision."


"As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do . . . From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm."


"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;"


"If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself."


"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;"


"Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."


"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein."


"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of."


"And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."


"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us . . . Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."


"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."


"If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."


Now, in light of what I just said, I suspect that some of you may possibly be thinking to yourselves, "Well, Bill, what about you? You talk a lot about making certain that we are preaching Scriptural truth, and that we are not twisting the meaning of God's Word. Have you ever been guilty of this, or do you believe that everything that you are teaching is one hundred per cent correct and Scripturally accurate?"

My dear friends, in my view, only a fool would make such a boastful claim. Similar to what the Apostle Paul states in the previous verse, I honestly don't believe that anyone on this Earth has a full, complete understanding of God's Word; and anyone who claims that they do, is deceived and full of their own pride. As I mention in the article called "Humility in Our Understanding of God's Word", I do not have a problem in the least in confessing that my knowledge is limited, and my understanding is far from complete. Furthermore, yes; as I explain in more detail in some of the articles which you will find listed at the end of this same article, I haven't always taught Scriptural truth. One of the major reasons for this is that, like so many of you, from the time that I was a young teenage Christian over five decades ago, I was exposed to a lot of different ideas which shaped and influenced my personal belief system over the years.

Because I was not yet grounded in God's Word and had no real Spiritual Discernment, I automatically assumed that what I was reading, hearing and being told was true. Now, decades later, after spending over thirty years just studying the Scriptures on my own with the aid of the Holy Spirit, I have come to realize that some of the things which I believed, preached and taught to others for many years, are not really sound, Biblical doctrines. Furthermore, I will humbly confess that even at this current time, there are still a number of ideas which I express in some of my articles and series -- particularly the older articles -- which do not stand up to Scriptural scrutiny, and thus are not accurate. This holds true particularly in the area of Bible prophecy.

I am sure that most of you will already understand that there was never any malicious intent on my part. In other words, I was not purposely endeavoring to deceive anyone. I honestly believed that what I was preaching, writing and teaching was true and in agreement with God's Word; just as many of you at this current time are also convinced of your personal beliefs, regardless of whether they are right or wrong and Scripturally accurate. As the Apostle Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans:

". . . Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."


While Paul was specifically writing about whether or not it was necessary for Christian brethren to observe Jewish feast days, or to practice Jewish kosher laws, this same principle can be applied to other areas of our walk of faith. In short, we must each be convinced of what we believe. We cannot ride on another person's faith. However, as we have seen, a big problem arises when we embrace beliefs which do not conform to the Scriptures; and then we begin to propagate those same beliefs in various ways. The end result is that many false doctrines are perpetuated without end, year after year, and even decade after decade, until they become so deeply rooted in our Christian beliefs, that it becomes very difficult to eradicate them. When we add the Internet and other modern technologies to the equation, it only makes the problem that much worse. As I noted earlier, just visit any of the popular social networks, and you will see exactly what I mean.

In my case, however, there is a silver lining to this story. You see, it is a direct result of having made these mistakes, and having learned my lesson from them, that for many years now, I have constantly and repeatedly pointed my readers to the Word of God. Through the Bill's Bible Basics writing ministry and these articles, I will share with people what I personally believe. I will point to the Scriptures which in my view support my beliefs. And then I will leave it up to each individual reader to make their own informed decision regarding whether or not I have got it right. If you are not convinced by the verses that I share with you, then so be it. Romans 14:5 kicks in.

The last thing that I want any of my readers to do is to place their faith in me. I do not want anyone to blindly follow me, or any other man of God for that matter. God's Word must reign supreme in each of our lives. That is why when you read my articles, or visit my Facebook timeline, or visit any of the other social networks where I participate, you will discover that I am constantly promoting God's Word, and not just myself, or my own ideas. You will find hundreds of topical King James Version Bible verse lists which I have personally compiled over the years, which will enhance your understanding of God's Word. These verse lists are dispersed throughout my articles because:

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."


Faith comes -- and grows -- as a result of reading God's holy Word, and not man's word. I could very easily create a lot of web graphics which are full of all kinds of witty Christian sayings, such as you find on Facebook. They may sound cool, and they may even make a lot of sense. Nevertheless, they are still not God's Word. In fact, if I may be honest, and hoping not to offend anyone, sometimes I wonder if the creators of these graphics are merely trying to impress people with their wit, or trying to outdo each other by inventing more catchy phrases. In contrast, the vast majority of my web graphics contained actual typed out Bible verses -- or at least the references for the same -- because I want my friends to get hooked on the Word, and not just on my writings, or on my personal intellect. So again, it is very important that we promote God's Word, and not just ourselves or our own ideas.

Please go to part two for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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