By Jason Wetz

Fine Tuning

I am sure that by now you realize what has been discovered here! Now knowing exactly who the Holy Spirit is, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within our lives can be fine-tuned. For instance, when reading the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, one can see that the authors were trying to help the reader fine tune the work of the Holy Spirit within their lives. Throughout the Bible referral is made to wisdom, understanding, counsel, power knowledge and fear, the six branches of the Spirit. Let's take a peek at just what an impact the following verses can make in our lives. Prov. 8:12-14 reads:

I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate.
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, I have strength.

How could we begin to ponder the depth of these verses without knowing what the writer is referring to? Actually the writer has laid out all six spirits of God the Holy Spirit, simply fine-tuning the inner life of those who are diligently seeking after the Creator. Fine-tuning for what purpose? First, to draw us nearer to God; second, so that His face may indeed shine upon us as we go froth to fulfill the great commission: "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel…" (Mk 16:15). How can a vehicle go anywhere if it has no gas? Or how can a lamp burn if it has no oil?

In Revelation chapters two and three we find Jesus speaking to seven different churches. When one pays close attention you see that only six of the seven are chastised, while one church is exemplary in service and receives no censure for failure. Remember, there are six spirits which come from the Spirit of the LORD, which in total equals seven. Does not a tree have one trunk but many branches? What was Paul speaking of when he said in Ephesians 6:13:

Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Please note there are six pieces of armor mentioned here, representing six spiritual items. Also remember that Paul was taught in rabbinical thought, and here he is simplifying the God-given armor for the believers' minds.

Believing the Jewish Messiah, we are told in Matthew 5:14, "We are the light of the world…" If indeed we are the light of the world, how is our lamp filled with oil? There was a fence all around the Tabernacle that God commanded Moses to build. Within the fence there was an open area for the Altar of burnt offerings, and a laver for the priests to wash with. Then there was the tent in the center overlaid with different articles. Within the tent were two compartments, the innermost being the Holy of Holies, where the ark stood. Within the first compartment there were three articles: the incense altar of gold where the incense was burnt to God, the table of showbread where twelve loaves were placed representing twelve tribes, and the golden menorah, or lampstand. This lampstand is a very peculiar article.  Let's take a closer look at what Moses wrote in the word of God regarding the construction of the lampstand in Exodus 25:31-36:

You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece. And six branches shall come out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side. Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower—and so for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. On the lampstand itself four bowls shall be made like almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower. And there shall be a knob under the first two branches of the same, a knob under the second two branches of the same, and a knob under the third two branches of the same, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold.

The lampstand was to be made of one talent of pure gold (75-100 lbs). In an uncomplicated description, we have a 75-100 lb golden lampstand, with a base, that consists of one main trunk and six branches coming from the main trunk. Does this not sound familiar to what we read earlier in Isaiah 11?

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

When Jesus said, "I am the light of the world…" (cf. Jn. 8:12), He was saying I am the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (and in an even deeper sense he was claiming to be the Holy Spirit). John the Baptist said in John 1:33: "He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’" Moses was told in Exodus 27:20-21 to "command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. 21 In the tabernacle of meeting, outside the veil which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening until morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to their generations on behalf of the children of Israel." The lampstand burned with pure olive oil that had to be filled by Aaron the High Priest. In like manner, if we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who then is our High Priest who trims our wick and renews our spirit? Yes indeed, Jesus is the High Priest who is the giver of the pure olive oil, the Holy Spirit.

After the Holy Spirit has entered into our lives, we are responsible to maintain the balance of the six spirits. We will discuss how one receives the Holy Spirit in the next chapter. You will find that the scriptures indicate that when one of the six spirits of God is out of balance it affects the other five. It is like the four tires of a car; when one is out of balance you can really feel it when driving on the road.

So it is also with the Holy Spirit, as we will see in the following quotes from the Bible. Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." Proverbs 9:10, "The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." What we find here is simply when one is lacking, all are lacking. If one is lacking in the spirit of reverence (or fear) of God, then he has no knowledge. If he has no knowledge, then he has no understanding. If your car has one low tire it will not drive properly. If we have six lights branching off the main trunk, and one or two are dimmed, then the lampstand is not providing light at its full and proper capacity.

Now that we know who the Holy Spirit is, when we come to see in our lives that we are making bad decisions, or lack understanding or knowledge of certain matters, will we also come to realize that we are out of balance? Then what do we do? We simply go to our Mediator who is also our High Priest, approaching Him in a fearful (revering) fashion, seeking His counsel. He is waiting with an abundant supply of that pure olive oil. Nevertheless, we must not expect to be filled until we seek His counsel. Counsel is one of the six spirits of the LORD, which we may simply call prayer. Perhaps the words below will help you to ponder the complexity, yet simplicity of the six branches of the Holy Spirit.

If we fear God, and seek His counsel, He will be our power, giving to us knowledge and understanding so that we may stand in His wisdom.

Go to Receive the Spirit.