Small Group Participant’s Guide

Session 9

The Shepherd and the Holy Spirit

The first person we need to look at before we consider the relationship between the Shepherd and the Holy Spirit, is the Holy Spirit Himself. The Holy Spirit is an integral part of the Trinity, and therefore shares the same fullness of deity as the Father and the Son (the Shepherd). The Spirit is equal to the Son and not inferior to the Son, He is no less God, He is no less personal, He is no less powerful. He is of the same essence as the Father and the Son.

In Romans 1:4, we can clearly see the relationship between the Shepherd and the Holy Spirit.

To help us understand the unity and equality between the Son and the Spirit, it is helpful to remember that the Holy Spirit is called ‘the Spirit of Christ’. The Holy Spirit is just as much the Spirit of Jesus as he is the Spirit of God. Consider the following verses of scripture: Read Romans 8:9.

The knowledge that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, should enable us to see that He doesn’t work in the arena of the mystical and mysterious, but in the realm of practical, knowable reality. Jesus Christ is the one who became flesh and lived among us: we know what He is like, we saw Him, heard Him, touched Him. We felt His compassion, we saw His power; we were there when He died on the cross, and we witnessed His resurrection by which He secured our salvation and that of all creation. When we speak of the Holy Spirit, it is His Spirit of whom we are speaking, not some unknown and unknowable God, nor some mysterious power.

The Shepherd is not promising somebody or something completely different from Himself. He is promising us ‘all’ that is in God. This is confirmed later when the Shepherd promised the coming of the Spirit, and He spoke of that coming as He, Himself coming to the believer. Read John 14:18-23.

The Spirit’s message is never, “Look at Me; listen to Me; come to Me”, but always, “Look at Him, and see His glory; listen to Him, and hear His word; go to Him, and have life; get to know Him, and taste His gift of joy and peace.”

Questions:

1. Do you know the Holy Spirit, and do you understand what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life?
2. Do you come ‘alive’ as you respond to the Holy Spirit? If not, why do you think this might be?
3. If you don’t know the Holy Spirit as the comforter promised by the Shepherd, why don’t you ask Jesus to introduce Him to you? It is His great pleasure to do that for all who ask Him.