David Diga Hernandez - The Nature of the Holy Spirit

There is a difference between somebody’s nature and somebody’s actions. Psalm chapter 103, verse 7 says, «He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.» The actions of the Holy Spirit are demonstrated all around us, but that doesn’t mean that everyone truly understands or appreciates his nature. I can see somebody’s actions and still not know who they are. Moses knew God’s heart; the children of Israel understood God’s hand. When you see the Holy Spirit moving, you are witnessing his actions. When you witness a miracle, when you see a gift of the Spirit in operation, or when you witness somebody’s life completely transformed, you’re watching the Holy Spirit in action. So, what does it mean to truly come to know his nature? Well, if I know the Lord’s actions, then I will judge something based upon those actions. What do I mean by that? I mean that let’s say God moves a certain way in times past, but then now he begins to move differently. If I only understand God based upon his actions, then I will look at what God is doing now and say I’ve never seen God do this before. If I have never seen God do that before and I don’t understand his nature, then I will be dismissive of the new things that he begins to do. However, if I understand God’s nature and then I see him at work with an action I’ve never quite seen before, then I can say this looks like something that the Holy Spirit would do. This is the benefit of knowing his nature in a deep way and not just settling for superficial understanding of his actions.

So, I want to talk to you about the Holy Spirit’s nature. What is he like? I am telling you, first of all, he’s thrilling; he’s colorful. There’s never a dull moment with the Holy Spirit; you never know what to expect. People who attend our meetings regularly often say that each meeting, though it has a similar structure, is very different from the others. Each meeting our ministry has is a very unique expression of the Holy Spirit’s power. Each day that I walk with the Holy Spirit, I am constantly seeing a new side to him. I’m continuously discovering something about his nature that I didn’t quite see in the same way before. When I first began to study the Holy Spirit, I read from Genesis to Revelation, looking for truths about him, and just when I thought I had exhausted the well—just when I thought there was no more to his nature to be found—I would again discover that there was far more than I could imagine. There is so much to the nature of the Holy Spirit; there is so much to his person; there is so much to his personality that there is great depth behind that nature. There is great depth behind those actions, and we have the privilege and joy of exploring that nature and becoming acquainted as friends of the Holy Spirit.

So, to understand the nature of the Holy Spirit, we have to look to the Scriptures. This is what the Bible says in Galatians chapter 5, beginning at verse 22. I am going to read down to verse 23: «But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.» Yes, this is what the Holy Spirit produces in our lives, and he can produce this fruit. By the way, it says «fruit of the Spirit,» not «seed of the Spirit.» This is an instant transformation that takes place at salvation. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit because it comes from his nature. The reason he can produce it in our lives is that he is the source himself. He is the source of love; he is the source of peace, patience, and so forth. You cannot give what you don’t have; the same applies to the Holy Spirit. He can manifest this fruit in our lives because it stems from his very own nature. He is intrinsically loving; he is intrinsically joyful—it is a part of who he is—and those manifestations in our lives are rooted in the nature of the Holy Spirit.

So, let’s take a look first at the fact that he’s loving. This is the kind of fruit he produces in our lives: love. He is loving, and you’ve heard it said that Jesus loves you; you’ve heard it said that the Father loves you. But have you ever truly considered the fact that the Holy Spirit also loves you? Each one of them manifests their love for us in different ways, but the Holy Spirit manifests his love for us in that he abides with us. We are his tabernacle. Often, the Holy Spirit will wake me up early in the morning to pray, and when I awaken, sometimes I can just sense that the Holy Spirit is waking me to say hello. He is waking me just to say, «I want to spend some time with you.» I dare even say that the Holy Spirit wants to be in your presence more than you want to be in his. He’s also joyful. The Holy Spirit is not mean or stoic; he’s not necessarily serious. In fact, I believe the Holy Spirit has a sense of humor—I am sure of it. I can recall one time when a skeptic was watching me pray for the sick, and he was commenting to people as I prayed about how he thinks it’s all fake. He’s telling them this is all power of suggestion; this is all planned, or maybe even he pays people to do this. When I turned…