The Holy Spirit is the vital power by which God accomplishes His work, acting as the means through which He performs creation, redemption, salvation, and governance. In the Old Testament, the Spirit is seen empowering individuals in tangible ways, such as granting Joseph wisdom before Pharaoh, endowing Bezaleel with skill to build the tabernacle, opening Balaam's eyes to truth, setting Joshua apart as a leader, surging through Samson with physical strength to tear apart a lion, and inspiring Jahaziel with encouraging words for Judah. Under the New Covenant, as revealed by Jesus Christ, the role of the Spirit expands to a more spiritual dimension, filling believers with spiritual strength to perform works in a spiritual realm rather than purely physical feats. Jesus emphasizes that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, a possession of God, used to inspire His disciples to speak God's words, especially under duress before authorities, providing testimony that can convict or stand as evidence against unbelievers. The Spirit also empowers Jesus to cast out demons, demonstrating God's undeniable power over evil forces, which must obey when the Spirit is sent to do His work. This same power frees individuals from demonic influence and the broader bondage to satan's way of life, rejecting, resisting, and ultimately defeating him through God's Spirit. Furthermore, Jesus teaches that the Holy Spirit is central to the transformation process of entering God's Kingdom, working invisibly within a person from the first contact with God, drawing them to Christ, and remaining active throughout conversion. The Spirit provides gifts, motivation, strength, inspiration, and enables communication and fellowship with God and others, transforming believers into sons and daughters of God. Worship, as a response to God, must be in spirit and truth, reflecting His work in us back to Him through living His way, a process facilitated by the Spirit's constant involvement in every aspect of a Christian's life. Jesus also highlights that the Spirit, once received, should flow out of believers like rivers of living water, motivating godly behavior, service, encouragement, and kindness, if not quenched by human reluctance. He urges believers to allow this unhindered flow of God's power to work through their speech, thought, and actions, rather than holding back due to human nature. Finally, the Spirit immerses believers fully, as symbolized in baptism, equipping them to be witnesses of Christ worldwide, a privilege and joy to use for God's glory.

The Holy Spirit, as a possession of God, is directed and used by Him to accomplish His will. It is always active, poised to act in a split second, powerful and ready to work at His command. When God speaks, the Holy Spirit immediately responds, bringing about His intended results, showing it operates solely under His authority. In the life of Joseph, the Holy Spirit set him apart from others, endowing him with discernment and wisdom, enabling deep understanding and sound judgment to make right decisions. Similarly, in the prophecy of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit produces qualities like counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord, shaping a person to reflect these attributes under God's guidance. With Bezalel, the Holy Spirit granted skills, talents, and character traits necessary for constructing the Tabernacle, demonstrating that it equips individuals with whatever is needed—mental, emotional, or physical—to perform God's work, no matter how small or great the task. In the case of Balaam, the Holy Spirit opened his eyes and ears to the truth, allowing him to see reality as God sees it, revealing the beauty of Israel despite preconceived notions. Through Elisha's servant, the Holy Spirit opened eyes to perceive spiritual realities, providing clarity and faith to understand God's protection. In Joshua's succession of Moses, the Holy Spirit was instrumental in setting apart individuals for special roles, whether for leadership or other purposes, marking them as holy to God. Samson's encounter with the lion illustrates how the Holy Spirit energizes and strengthens to meet sudden attacks, offering spiritual strength to overcome enemies and endure trials. Jesus Christ exemplified using the Holy Spirit's power outwardly to help others, going about doing good and showing compassion, setting a pattern for using this strength to benefit others. In Jehoshaphat's time, the Holy Spirit came upon Jahaziel to speak words of hope and encouragement, providing fitting and helpful messages at critical moments. This aligns with the promise that God will supply the right words through the Holy Spirit when needed, ensuring a godly witness. The Holy Spirit also fosters fellowship, linking believers with God, with Christ, and with each other, creating a common bond that transcends physical distance or prior acquaintance. It pours out God's love in our hearts, ensuring that its inspirations are always acts of love, characterized by power, a sound mind, and courage, never promoting fear or foolishness. By understanding these functions, one can discern whether an inspiration comes from God's Spirit or another source, as the Holy Spirit will always align with love, strength, and sound reasoning, urging actions that are helpful and good.

The Feast of Tabernacles takeaway from this section here is that the Feast is a time of outflowing, overflowing, loving service to others, not for any kind of self-satisfaction. It is a time when we are here to learn how to serve others and to serve with a whole heart. Take those gifts that we have been given through God's Spirit and help other people as much as we can. We have the ability to affect others greatly. Those are spiritual gifts that are developed in us through our work with Jesus Christ. Not so that we are seen to be loving or joyful or patient or good, or any of those things. It is so that we can then give those fruits to others. These are the things that we are to be producing as fruit for others to eat, if you will. There is no restriction on your providing those things to others. You are a spiritual being encased in flesh right now and we are learning how to take of that wonderful outpouring of God's Spirit, develop these fruits of the Spirit, and then push them out toward other people. Whatever your gift is. Some of you, I don't have any gifts. I can't do anything. Well, maybe you cannot preach a sermon or maybe you cannot do this, that, or the other thing that is supposedly looked on as a great gift, but you could just be thankful. Gratitude is a wonderful! It is not mentioned here, but it is a wonderful gift of God's Spirit. You could be courteous and kind. One of the biggest ones is that we control ourselves. Do not run over people. I am not talking about in a car, but we have a bit of self-restraint and we give them what they need, not what we think they need. Not make ourselves the center of it all, but in controlling our spirit, give people the good things out of our own heart. That is what Jesus is talking about. It is not to be a static thing. That Spirit that He gives us is supposed to flow right through us and out to others so that they will be benefited. And if everybody does this, as more and more people do this, more and more people get caught up in it. As more people actually give of the fruits of the Spirit toward other people, it draws them in. You make a witness; and people can be called through that. It does not have to be a piece of literature. It could be the example of one of Christ's disciples overflowing with the gift of His Spirit. That is the best kind of opening of a person's mind because they see a son or a daughter of God and they say, That is a Christian. That's what I want to be. The gifts of God that have been given to you through the Holy Spirit are not to be squandered. They are not for you. They are others that you can affect through the pouring out of God's Spirit from your heart. Receiving God's Spirit is a wonderful thing. It is a great gift. But Jesus' emphasis is on using it abundantly out of the heart. Jesus is willing to give a Niagara Falls amount of Holy Spirit from Himself. But He says, those who receive it can have that rivers of living water gushing from them too. Yes, we can access the Holy Spirit through Christ. But Jesus says in verse 38 that the Spirit will flow out of the believer's heart like living water. It is not something to be contained, it is something to channel and use. This is not just a little dab will do you, that sort of thing. Christ is willing to give it in fullness and we are to then give it in fullness. Who are we supposed to be becoming like? The Son of Man, Jesus Christ. What does the water do from Him? It flows out in great amounts toward others. Well, if we are supposed to be like Him, it should flow out in great amounts toward others too from us. If we have that close relationship with God, and the water, the Spirit is flowing to us, we are well-watered gardens, but it is not supposed to stay there in the garden. It is supposed to, as it says here, spring out of us. The Spirit of God is powerful, it is active, it works. It is not something that is to be hoarded. I do not even know if you can hoard it.