The Holy Spirit

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THE HOLY SPIRIT

I. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN A LOCAL UNIVERSE

1. The Mother Spirit is confined to the local universe.

“The Universe Mother Spirit, however, never leaves the local universe headquarters world. The spirit of the Creator Son may and does function independently of the personal presence of the Son, but not so with her personal spirit. The Holy Spirit of the Divine Minister would become nonfunctional if her personal presence should be removed from Salvington. Her spirit presence seems to be fixed on the universe headquarters world, and it is this very fact that enables the spirit of the Creator Son to function independently of the whereabouts of the Son. The Universe Mother Spirit acts as the universe focus and center of the Spirit of Truth as well as of her own personal influence, the Holy Spirit.” (378.1) 34:4.7

2. Holy Spirit’s work in the local universe.

“So it is with mortal man: The Mother Spirit of Salvington knows you fully, for the Holy Spirit on your world ‘searches all things,’ and whatsoever the divine Spirit knows of you is immediately available whenever the secoraphic discerners reflect with the Spirit concerning the Spirit’s knowledge of you. It should, however, be mentioned that the knowledge and plans of the Father fragments are not reflectible. The discerners can and do reflect the presence of the Adjusters (and the Censors pronounce them divine), but they cannot decipher the content of the mindedness of the Mystery Monitors.” (313.4) 28:5.22 1 Cor 2:10.

3. The Divine Minister acting for the Creator Son.

“When a Michael Son is absent from his universe, its government is directed by the first-born native being, the Bright and Morning Star, the local universe chief executive. The advice and counsel of the Union of Days is invaluable at such times. During these absences a Creator Son is able to invest the associated Mother Spirit with the overcontrol of his spiritual presence on the inhabited worlds and in the hearts of his mortal children. And the Mother Spirit of a local universe remains always at its headquarters, extending her fostering care and spiritual ministry to the uttermost parts of such an evolutionary domain.” (237.1) 21:2.11

4. Local universe spirit circuits.

“There are three distinct spirit circuits in the local universe of Nebadon:

1. “The bestowal spirit of the Creator Son, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth.
2. “The spirit circuit of the Divine Minister, the Holy Spirit.
3. “The intelligence-ministry circuit, including the more or less unified activities but diverse functioning of the seven adjutant mind-spirits.” (377.5) 34:4.1

II. WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. A source of continual spiritual strength.

“The divine Spirit is the source of continual ministry and encouragement to the children of man. Your power and achievement is ‘according to his mercy, through the renewing of the Spirit.’ Spiritual life, like physical energy, is consumed. Spiritual effort results in relative spiritual exhaustion. The whole ascendant experience is real as well as spiritual; therefore, it is truly written, ‘It is the Spirit that quickens.’ ‘The Spirit gives life.’” (380.6) 34:6.5 Titus 3:5. John 6:63. 2 Cor 3:6.

2. The Spirit imparts life to doctrine.

“The dead theory of even the highest religious doctrines is powerless to transform human character or to control mortal behavior. What the world of today needs is the truth which your teacher of old declared: ‘Not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.’ The seed of theoretical truth is dead, the highest moral concepts without effect, unless and until the divine Spirit breathes upon the forms of truth and quickens the formulas of righteousness.” (380.7) 34:6.6 1 Cor 4:20.

3. “You are the temple of God.”

“Those who have received and recognized the indwelling of God have been born of the Spirit. ‘You are the temple of God, and the spirit of God dwells in you.’ It is not enough that this spirit be poured out upon you; the divine Spirit must dominate and control every phase of human experience.” (381.1) 34:6.7 1 Cor 3:16-17.

4. Holy Spirit as the “water of life.”

“It is the presence of the divine Spirit, the water of life, that prevents the consuming thirst of mortal discontent and that indescribable hunger of the unspiritualized human mind. Spirit-motivated beings ‘never thirst, for this spiritual water shall be in them a well of satisfaction springing up into life everlasting.’ Such divinely watered souls are all but independent of material environment as regards the joys of living and the satisfactions of earthly existence. They are spiritually illuminated and refreshed, morally strengthened and endowed.” (381.2) 34:6.8 John 4:14.

5. Ministration to man’s spiritual nature.

“In every mortal there exists a dual nature: the inheritance of animal tendencies and the high urge of spirit endowment. During the short life you live on Urantia, these two diverse and opposing urges can seldom be fully reconciled; they can hardly be harmonized and unified; but throughout your lifetime the combined Spirit ever ministers to assist you in subjecting the flesh more and more to the leading of the Spirit. Even though you must live your material life through, even though you cannot escape the body and its necessities, nonetheless, in purpose and ideals you are empowered increasingly to subject the animal nature to the mastery of the Spirit. There truly exists within you a conspiracy of spiritual forces, a confederation of divine powers, whose exclusive purpose is to effect your final deliverance from material bondage and finite handicaps.

“The purpose of all this ministration is, ‘That you may be strengthened with power through His spirit in the inner man.’ And all this represents but the preliminary steps to the final attainment of the perfection of faith and service, that experience wherein you shall be ‘filled with all the fullness of God,’ ‘for all those who are led by the spirit of God are the sons of God.’” (381.3) 34:6.9 Eph 3:19. Rom 8:14.

6. The Spirit leads—never drives.

“The Spirit never drives, only leads. If you are a willing learner, if you want to attain spirit levels and reach divine heights, if you sincerely desire to reach the eternal goal, then the divine Spirit will gently and lovingly lead you along the pathway of sonship and spiritual progress. Every step you take must be one of willingness, intelligent and cheerful co-operation. The domination of the Spirit is never tainted with coercion nor compromised by compulsion.

“And when such a life of spirit guidance is freely and intelligently accepted, there gradually develops within the human mind a positive consciousness of divine contact and assurance of spirit communion; sooner or later ‘the Spirit bears witness with your spirit (the Adjuster) that you are a child of God.’ Already has your own Thought Adjuster told you of your kinship to God so that the record testifies that the Spirit bears witness ‘with your spirit,’ not to your spirit.” (381.5) 34:6.11 Rom 8:16.

7. The fruits of the spirit are joy and peace.

“The consciousness of the spirit domination of a human life is presently attended by an increasing exhibition of the characteristics of the Spirit in the life reactions of such a spirit-led mortal, ‘for the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.’ Such spirit-guided and divinely illuminated mortals, while they yet tread the lowly paths of toil and in human faithfulness perform the duties of their earthly assignments, have already begun to discern the lights of eternal life as they glimmer on the faraway shores of another world; already have they begun to comprehend the reality of that inspiring and comforting truth, ‘The kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.’ And throughout every trial and in the presence of every hardship, spirit-born souls are sustained by that hope which. transcends all fear because the love of God is shed abroad in all hearts by the presence of the divine Spirit.” (381.7) 34:6.13 Gal 5:22. Rom 14:17.

III. HOLY SPIRIT’S INFLUENCE ON PERSONALITY

1. Influence of Holy Spirit on personality.

“Revelation as an epochal phenomenon is periodic; as a personal human experience it is continuous. Divinity functions in mortal personality as the Adjuster gift of the Father, as the Spirit of Truth of the Son, and as the Holy Spirit of the Universe Spirit, while these three supermortal endowments are unified in human experiential evolution as the ministry of the Supreme.” (1107.2) 101:2.12

2. Holy Spirit imparts soul intelligence.

“Faith-insight, or spiritual intuition, is the endowment of the cosmic mind in association with the Thought Adjuster, which is the Father’s gift to man. Spiritual reason, soul intelligence, is the endowment of the Holy Spirit, the Creative Spirit’s gift to man. Spiritual philosophy, the wisdom of spirit realities, is the endowment of the Spirit of Truth, the combined gift of the bestowal Sons to the children of men. And the co-ordination and interassociation of these spirit endowments constitute man a spirit personality in potential destiny.” (1108.1) 101:3.2

IV. RELATION OF HOLY SPIRIT TO OTHER SPIRITS

1. Holy Spirit and the adjutant mind-spirits.

“Man possessed a religion of natural origin as a part of his evolutionary experience long before any systematic revelations were made on Urantia. But this religion of natural origin was, in itself, the product of man’s superanimal endowments. Evolutionary religion arose slowly throughout the millenniums of mankind’s experiential career through the ministry of the following influences operating within, and impinging upon, savage, barbarian, and civilized man:

“1. The adjutant of worship—the appearance in animal consciousness of superanimal potentials for reality perception. This might be termed the primordial human instinct for Deity.

“2. The adjutant of wisdom—the manifestation in a worshipful mind of the tendency to direct its adoration in higher channels of expression and toward ever-expanding concepts of Deity reality.

“3. The Holy Spirit—this is the initial supermind bestowal, and it unfailingly appears in all bona fide human personalities. This ministry to a worship-craving and wisdom-desiring mind creates the capacity to self-realize the postulate of human survival, both in theologic concept and as an actual and factual personality experience.” (1003.1) 92:0.1

2. Holy Spirit’s preparation for Adjusters.

“When mind is thus endowed with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, it possesses the capacity for (consciously or unconsciously) choosing the spiritual presence of the Universal Father—the Thought Adjuster. But it is not until a bestowal Son has liberated the Spirit of Truth for planetary ministry to all mortals that all normal minds are automatically prepared for the reception of the Thought Adjusters. The Spirit of Truth works as one with the presence of the spirit of the Divine Minister. This dual spirit liaison hovers over the worlds, seeking to teach truth and to spiritually enlighten the minds of men, to inspire the souls of the creatures of the ascending races, and to lead the peoples dwelling on the evolutionary planets ever towards their Paradise goal of divine destiny.” (379.4) 34:5.4

3. Relation to all other Spirits.

“The presence of the Holy Spirit of the Universe Daughter of the Infinite Spirit, of the Spirit of Truth of the Universe. Son of the Eternal Son, and of the Adjuster-spirit of the Paradise Father in or with an evolutionary mortal, denotes symmetry of spiritual endowment and ministry and qualifies such a mortal consciously to realize the faith-fact of sonship with God.” (380.1) 34:5.7

HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE

Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, and the Spirit of God are used somewhat interchangeably in the Bible. These designations cover the references in The Urantia Book of the following different Spirit realities:

1. Personality circuit of the Universal Father.
2. The spirit circuit of the Eternal Son.
3. The omnipresence of the Infinite Spirit.
4. The Thought Adjuster bestowals of the Father.
5. The Holy Spirit presence of the local universe Mother Spirit.
6. The Spirit of Truth.
7. The seven adjutant mind-spirits of the local universe mind endowment.

I. SPIRIT CREATIVE FUNCTIONS

“And the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” Gen 1:2.

“When thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground.” Ps 104:30.

“The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4.

II. IMPARTING INTELLIGENCE AND ABILITY

“And he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship.” Ex 35:31.

“Thou gavest thy good Spirit to instruct them.” Neh 9:20.

“But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.” Job 32:8.

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things.” John 14:26.

III. SPIRITUAL ENDOWMENT

“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.” Prov 20:27.

“And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized...and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” Acts 2:38.

“Let thy good spirit lead me on a level path.” Ps 143:10.

“The spirit of the Lord speaks by me, his word is upon my tongue.” 2 Sam 23:2.

“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me.” Isa 61:1.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Acts 1:8.

“But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord.” Micah 3:8

IV. THE DIVINE PRESENCE

For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” 1 Cor 2:10.

“In him you also, who...were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” Eph 1:13.

“Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” Ps 139:7.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Ps 51:10.

V. POURED OUT UPON ALL FLESH

“I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.” Joel 2:28.

“I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” Acts 2:18.

“The Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.” Acts 10:44.

VI. MAN’S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE SPIRIT

“Then he said to me, ‘...not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.’” Zech 4:6.

“How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Luke 11:13.

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Eph 4:30.

“Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 Thess 5:19.

“But they rebelled and grieved his holy Spirit.” Isa 63:10.

“So that the offerings of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Rom 15:16.

VII. AS A PENTECOSTAL EXPERIENCE

“And when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them.” Acts 19:6.

“And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth.” 1 John 5:7.

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:4.

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31.

VIII. SPIRIT OF THE THIRD PERSON OF THE TRINITY

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matt 28:19.

“But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” Luke 12:10.

“And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.” Luke 4:14.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Cor 3:17.

“And having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear.” Acts 2:33.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Cor 13:14.

“And when Jesus was baptized...behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him.” Matt 3:16.